- July 20, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Each decision the federal government makes — launching new programs, issuing contracts, and creating regulations — has ripple effects, impacting thousands of businesses and driving billions of dollars in economic activity.
If those policies are cancelled or reversed, the businesses who hustled to comply are left out on a limb. And a weakness in federal law governing the appointment of government officials makes these disruptive reversals more likely.
Our Constitution requires the president to get the Senate’s approval when appointing people to run federal agencies. But there are rules in place governing situations in which acting officials need to step in and serve temporarily if a job becomes vacant and the Senate has yet to confirm a nominee.
The law, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (best known as the Vacancies Act), allows the president some flexibility, but imposes limits on who can take over the job and how long that person can serve on an…
