[OT] Question about rules around appointments

[Rhino]

I see that Trump is hoping to appoint at least two members of the House
to posts in his government: Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador and Matt
Gaetz as Attorney-General. I know that Gaetz has already resigned his
seat but haven't heard if Stefanik has too.

Do House members have to resign their seats before they qualify for
senior jobs like this? It seems odd to me that they would give up their
seats prior to actually getting confirmed in the job. After all,
Republican control of the House is very narrow. I'm assuming that
special elections will be held to replace Stefanik and Gaetz and there
seems like at least SOME risk that those seats could be lost to the
Democrats, meaning that control of the House could be lost to the
Democrats if enough of the not-fully-counted seats go their way.

It would make more sense to me to nominate Gaetz and Stefanik but leave
them in the House until their appointments are approved; if they are NOT
approved, they'd still have their seats in the House rather than
potentially losing them to the Dems.

[suzeeq]

Post by Rhino
I see that Trump is hoping to appoint at least two members of the House
to posts in his government: Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador and Matt
Gaetz as Attorney-General. I know that Gaetz has already resigned his
seat but haven't heard if Stefanik has too.
Do House members have to resign their seats before they qualify for
senior jobs like this? It seems odd to me that they would give up their
seats prior to actually getting confirmed in the job. After all,
Republican control of the House is very narrow. I'm assuming that
special elections will be held to replace Stefanik and Gaetz and there
seems like at least SOME risk that those seats could be lost to the
Democrats, meaning that control of the House could be lost to the
Democrats if enough of the not-fully-counted seats go their way.
It would make more sense to me to nominate Gaetz and Stefanik but leave
them in the House until their appointments are approved; if they are NOT
approved, they'd still have their seats in the House rather than
potentially losing them to the Dems.

Gaetz resigned now because the House Ethics Committee was going to
release its report on his misconduct last Friday. If he's not a member,
they don't have a reason to release it. But several of the Senators are
requesting them to release it because of his nomination.

[shawn]

On Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:23:53 -0500, Rhino

Post by Rhino
I see that Trump is hoping to appoint at least two members of the House
to posts in his government: Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador and Matt
Gaetz as Attorney-General. I know that Gaetz has already resigned his
seat but haven't heard if Stefanik has too.
Do House members have to resign their seats before they qualify for
senior jobs like this? It seems odd to me that they would give up their
seats prior to actually getting confirmed in the job. After all,
Republican control of the House is very narrow. I'm assuming that
special elections will be held to replace Stefanik and Gaetz and there
seems like at least SOME risk that those seats could be lost to the
Democrats, meaning that control of the House could be lost to the
Democrats if enough of the not-fully-counted seats go their way.

Simple answer is no, House members don't have to resign just because
they were nominated for a job in the Trump administration. It's
speculated that Gaetz went ahead and resigned to hopefully keep the
House investigation into the underage sex accusations against him
under wraps. As to what happens with the empty seats I think it may
depend on each states rules but typically the Governor of the state
will nominate someone to hold the seat until there can be an election.
I know there will be special elections held but I'm not sure if that's
always the case or if the person selected by the Governor can hold the
seat until the normal time for the seat to be up for re-election.

As for the chance of the seats going to the Dems, I think that's at 0%
chance as those two seats will be filled by Republican Governors and
are in solidly Republican districts and so when the elections are held
the voters are likely to choose a Republican.

Post by Rhino
It would make more sense to me to nominate Gaetz and Stefanik but leave
them in the House until their appointments are approved; if they are NOT
approved, they'd still have their seats in the House rather than
potentially losing them to the Dems.

[suzeeq]

Post by shawn
On Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:23:53 -0500, Rhino

Post by Rhino
I see that Trump is hoping to appoint at least two members of the House
to posts in his government: Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador and Matt
Gaetz as Attorney-General. I know that Gaetz has already resigned his
seat but haven't heard if Stefanik has too.
Do House members have to resign their seats before they qualify for
senior jobs like this? It seems odd to me that they would give up their
seats prior to actually getting confirmed in the job. After all,
Republican control of the House is very narrow. I'm assuming that
special elections will be held to replace Stefanik and Gaetz and there
seems like at least SOME risk that those seats could be lost to the
Democrats, meaning that control of the House could be lost to the
Democrats if enough of the not-fully-counted seats go their way.

Simple answer is no, House members don't have to resign just because
they were nominated for a job in the Trump administration. It's
speculated that Gaetz went ahead and resigned to hopefully keep the
House investigation into the underage sex accusations against him
under wraps. As to what happens with the empty seats I think it may
depend on each states rules but typically the Governor of the state
will nominate someone to hold the seat until there can be an election.
I know there will be special elections held but I'm not sure if that's
always the case or if the person selected by the Governor can hold the
seat until the normal time for the seat to be up for re-election. >
As for the chance of the seats going to the Dems, I think that's at 0%
chance as those two seats will be filled by Republican Governors and
are in solidly Republican districts and so when the elections are held
the voters are likely to choose a Republican.

Doesn't NY have a D governor, or was she voted out?

Post by shawn

Post by Rhino
It would make more sense to me to nominate Gaetz and Stefanik but leave
them in the House until their appointments are approved; if they are NOT
approved, they'd still have their seats in the House rather than
potentially losing them to the Dems.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by shawn

. . .

Simple answer is no, House members don't have to resign just because
they were nominated for a job in the Trump administration. It's
speculated that Gaetz went ahead and resigned to hopefully keep the
House investigation into the underage sex accusations against him
under wraps. As to what happens with the empty seats I think it may
depend on each states rules but typically the Governor of the state
will nominate someone to hold the seat until there can be an election.
I know there will be special elections held but I'm not sure if that's
always the case or if the person selected by the Governor can hold the
seat until the normal time for the seat to be up for re-election.

In case of a House vacancy, there's no gubanatorial appointment. Instead
there's a special election if there are enough days in the term.

A Senate vacancy used to be filled by gubanatorial election till the end of
term or until the next general election if more than two years remained.
However, there was a federal court case that changed that requiring a
special election under rules similar to a vacancy in the House.

Post by shawn
. . .

[shawn]

On Tue, 19 Nov 2024 19:12:45 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by shawn

. . .

Simple answer is no, House members don't have to resign just because
they were nominated for a job in the Trump administration. It's
speculated that Gaetz went ahead and resigned to hopefully keep the
House investigation into the underage sex accusations against him
under wraps. As to what happens with the empty seats I think it may
depend on each states rules but typically the Governor of the state
will nominate someone to hold the seat until there can be an election.
I know there will be special elections held but I'm not sure if that's
always the case or if the person selected by the Governor can hold the
seat until the normal time for the seat to be up for re-election.

In case of a House vacancy, there's no gubanatorial appointment. Instead
there's a special election if there are enough days in the term.
A Senate vacancy used to be filled by gubanatorial election till the end of
term or until the next general election if more than two years remained.
However, there was a federal court case that changed that requiring a
special election under rules similar to a vacancy in the House.

It's something that doesn't come up often enough for me to remember
anything other than the old Senate vacancy rule. Didn't know that it
had changed so thanks for the update.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by Rhino
I see that Trump is hoping to appoint at least two members of the House
to posts in his government: Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador and Matt
Gaetz as Attorney-General. I know that Gaetz has already resigned his
seat but haven't heard if Stefanik has too.

Gaetz was re-elected. He resigned to thwart the House Ethics Committee
from releasing its findings as they lack jurisdiction over former
members of Congress.

The term of the new Congress begins January 3. The president's term ends
at noon on January 20, so there is overlap between the end of the
presidential term and the start of the new Congress.

We expect Gaetz and Stefanik to get sworn in into the new Congress. If
confirmed, they must resign.

Post by Rhino
Do House members have to resign their seats before they qualify for
senior jobs like this?

They aren't required to resign to be nominated and confirmed. They must
resign in order to be sworn in to their executive office.

Post by Rhino
It seems odd to me that they would give up their
seats prior to actually getting confirmed in the job.

With the tiny majority, they won't resign till the last moment. If there
were a larger majority, they could resign earlier.

Post by Rhino
. . .

[Ubiquitous]

Post by Rhino
I see that Trump is hoping to appoint at least two members of the House
to posts in his government: Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador and Matt
Gaetz as Attorney-General. I know that Gaetz has already resigned his
seat but haven't heard if Stefanik has too.
Do House members have to resign their seats before they qualify for
senior jobs like this? It seems odd to me that they would give up their
seats prior to actually getting confirmed in the job. After all,
Republican control of the House is very narrow. I'm assuming that
special elections will be held to replace Stefanik and Gaetz and there
seems like at least SOME risk that those seats could be lost to the
Democrats, meaning that control of the House could be lost to the
Democrats if enough of the not-fully-counted seats go their way.
It would make more sense to me to nominate Gaetz and Stefanik but leave
them in the House until their appointments are approved; if they are NOT
approved, they'd still have their seats in the House rather than
potentially losing them to the Dems.

I'm not clear on the details, but Gaetz was giving his "two weeks notice",
despite Democrat claims to the contrary.

I am hoping Trump doesn't select too many Congressmen, resulting in loss of
Republican control. It's bad enough that there are a bunch of RINO who are
more than willing to sell us out.

--
Don't jump!