Marco
The Secretary of State has a full time job. It’s not just running the “structure” of the State Department, embassies and offices scattered throughout the world, vetting and credentialing every US citizen who goes abroad, and controlling US aid (what little is left) to other countries. The Secretary also has to advise the President about situations and strategies all over the world, from Antarctic resources (or Greenland’s) to suffering minorities (the Uyghurs in China) to the threat of expansionist nations like Russia and China.
And, of course, there’s a war in the Middle East. It’s a lot for any one individual to cover.
And then he was made Security Advisor to the President. While those jobs seem “concurrent” in a sense, traditionally the Advisor has briefed the President directly on critical world issues, on a daily basis. That’s something that Rubio, like most Secretaries of State, has some difficulty doing. He’s constantly travelling the world, a key figure in the gathering of world leaders and trying to problem-solve world issues. Hard to advise the President too.
But as the commercial says “Wait there’s more!!!”.
The Secretary of State is the “senior” cabinet official, and as such, has a role in the “documentation” of American government. In the foundational Supreme Court case of Marbury v Madison, it was Madison’s duty as Secretary of State to deliver a document appointing Marbury to a judicial position. Madison failed to do so, and thus became the named defendant in the court case. Should a President resign, that letter is directed to the Secretary of State.
Over-Worked
But Secretary Rubio also has a much larger role in the “paperwork” trail. He was appointed the “Archivist” of the United States, a wholly separate job as the leader of the National Archives. All US documents are stored there, from the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, to the President’s secret emails. The Archivist plays an important role in the Electoral College process, gathering the electoral votes from the states and transmitting them (in big wooden boxes) to the Congress for counting.
That’s three major roles Rubio holds, all three more than “full-time” jobs serving the American government and people. Like Rubio or not, there’s no question that he is qualified – both as Secretary and Adviser. But he’s not so prepared as an Archivist. The Trump Administration is, once again, taking the “easy way out” to avoid having to confirm appointees through the Senate.
Temp Jobs
The issue is this. Normally, senior Executive Branch appointments have to have Senate confirmation. That includes the appointment process, hearings, debates, and final agreement. To avoid the “official” process, Trump appoints “recess” or “temporary” appointees. All they have to have as a prior Senate confirmation for another job. That first imprimatur gives them the necessary qualification to serve as temporary in other positions.
The temporary appointment is limited (depending on the way it’s done, from 120 to 300 days). But that’s OK in the merry-go-round of Trump’s executives. When one temporary is done, another can be put in. That completely avoids the “regular order” of Constitutionally mandated “advise and consent” clause (Article 2, Section 2, Part 2).
And, from their standpoint, that’s a good thing. Because, besides Rubio, now the President has appointed Bill Pulte as the “temporary” Director of National Intelligence. Bill is the, Senate confirmed, Director of the Federal Housing and Finance Agency.
Houses
Now Bill actually has some experience in the housing field. He is the heir to a multi-million dollar business that built homes in Florida. And, along with having a successful private-equity firm career, Bill created a charity that removes abandoned houses, and leaves clean lots instead.
Upon getting the Directorship, Bill immediately took over the leadership of the two Federal home mortgage agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
And Pulte quickly used his powers for Trump’s ongoing retribution campaign. He accused three prime Trump enemies: Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Federal Reserve Board Member Lisa Cook of forms of mortgage fraud.
Pulte will continue in his role at the Housing and Finance Agency. But now, he’s also taking on the Director of National Intelligence role. That job was created to consolidate the information gathering of the eighteen different intelligence agencies in the US government, to avoid the kind of failures that allowed 9-11 attacks to occur. Essentially, the DNI is in charge of ALL US intelligence agencies, like the CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, and fourteen others.
No Intelligence
Nowhere in his career does Pulte have any intelligence experience. Nothing he has done prepares him for the chief intelligence officer role in the US government. Nothing, that is, except for his proven loyalty to Trump, attested to by the accusations against Trump’s enemies list.
America is a war, right now. Many of our alliances, including the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing group (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom and the US) are teetering on the brink of collapse. NATO is not far behind. And, it seems like reliance on Israeli intelligence led the US into a complicated conflict with Iran. All of this is supposed to be directed by the DNI, and that Director must explain it to the President.
Bill Pulte isn’t that guy. His appointment leaves America even more vulnerable to attack, and to the kind of policy blunders we are seeing in the Straits of Hormuz. That fact is apparent to everyone; the Senate, the American people, and the world. But it’s not Bill’s fault.
It’s the fault of the President that appointed him.
