1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: So the Supreme Court met yesterday in a case about 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:11,639 Speaker 1: what authority does the president have. 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 2: Tony Katz, Tony kats today, good to be with you. 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: Find everything over at Tony Katz dot com. Appreciate you 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 1: heading over there checking everything out. And it's a question 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: whether or not the president can fire people who run agencies. 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: What we have allowed to happen with agencies is basically 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 1: creating a fourth branch of government where these agencies are created. 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 2: They get these budgets. 10 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: They are unaccountable, and there's deference to their decision. They 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: can come up with the rule, and the rule has 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: the full effective law. But these people were never voted 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: in and they exist regardless of who's been elected. It's 14 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: a real problem and there had been for a long 15 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: time the concept of something a Supreme Court case called 16 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: Chevron and it was known as Chevron deference. And it's 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: the idea that if an agency made a decision, that 18 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: the duly elected representatives should yield to that position, and 19 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: the courts really should yield to that position because they're 20 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: the experts. The legislative branch could still create laws and 21 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: then the agency would have to. 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: Follow the wall. 23 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: But the agency can make a lot of decisions outside 24 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: of laws created, and everyone should defer to that, and 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: the court should deffer to that. 26 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 2: That is terrible, and that was overturned. And I am overjoyed. 27 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: And members of Congress were very upset about this, because, well, 28 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: it means I'll have more work to do, because it's 29 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: up to them to the side. Yes, correct, accurate, are 30 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: duly elected representatives. 31 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 2: We have too many agencies as it is. 32 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: Well, what happened a situation where the president now elected, 33 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: wants to fire some people run the agencies because he 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: wants the agencies to do something different. 35 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 2: The argument is, well, you can't do that. What do 36 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 2: you mean I can't do that. 37 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: This brings us to the case of Rebecca Slaughter FTC 38 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: Federal Trade Commission Commissioner, who was fired by Trump, and 39 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: her argument is, whoaaho, you don't get to fire me 40 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: where I'm part of an agency. 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 2: You don't have that power. 42 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: At that moment, everyone goes whoa, whoa, whoa whoa. The 43 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: president doesn't have the power to fire. I can remember 44 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: this conversation going back to George W. 45 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: Bush and the Attorney General at the time. 46 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: Alberto Gonzalez, where they fired a bunch of lawyers in 47 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: the AG's office, and what they were told is you 48 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: can't fire those people. It sounded very much like, hey, mongo, 49 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: you can't park that horse over there, and then bam, 50 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: the president can fire anybody the president chooses at any time. 51 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 2: What a nutty thing to think. 52 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: Otherwise, the DOJ is part of the executive branch. End 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: of discussion, it's a very weird thing for people to say, 54 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: you can't fire these people. Somehow, if you work in 55 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: the federal government, you have a job for life. 56 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 2: You have a job for life. That's nuts. 57 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: So now comes this conversation about whether or not the 58 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: President of the United States, Donald Trump, can hire the 59 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: fire the heads of independent agencies. Now there's a whole 60 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: feeling that maybe you can and maybe you can't. And 61 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: there's a precedent that's referred to as Humphreys executor. I 62 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: am not a Supreme Court expert, but I'm trying to 63 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: do some studying. And what it does is that it 64 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: would limit the power of the president the fire members 65 00:03:58,040 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: of independent commissions. 66 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 2: However, this decision, this precedent has been slowly. 67 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: Chipped away at bit by bit and beast by peace 68 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: over the years. Over the decades, So it has people 69 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: like the Chief Justice John Roberts saying that Humphrey's executor 70 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: is really nothing more than a. 71 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 2: Quote dried husk. 72 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: So maybe they're looking for a reason to get rid 73 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: of it, or maybe, as oft times the Court does, 74 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: what they're really looking for is a way to make 75 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: subtle changes without making large scale changes. Kaitanji Brown Jackson, 76 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: Supreme Court justice, has been an embarrassment since she joined 77 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: the Court. I don't care that she knows more about 78 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: the law than me. She doesn't know enough to be 79 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: a Supreme Court justice. She acts on emotion, not data. 80 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: She is embarrassing. This was her yesterday in the discussion 81 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: of this case. 82 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 3: Some issues, some matter, some areas should be handled in 83 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 3: this way by nonpartisan experts. That Congress is saying that 84 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 3: expertise matters with respect to aspects of the economy and 85 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 3: transportation and the various independent agencies that we have. So 86 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 3: having a president come in and fire all the scientists 87 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,280 Speaker 3: and the doctors and the economists and the PhDs and 88 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 3: replacing them with loyalists and people who don't know anything 89 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 3: is actually not in the best interest of the citizens 90 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 3: of the United States. 91 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: Is this your legal opinion or is this just your 92 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: I'm sitting in my living room screaming at CNN opinion 93 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: because it sounds like the latter those who were fired. 94 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: For example, if he had actually fired Anthony Fauci, that 95 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: had been the right thing to do, because Anthony Fauci, 96 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: for all his so called bona fides, got everything on 97 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: COVID wrong and lied to America. You don't need a mask. 98 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: Oh wait, you need a mask. Oh wait, I'll go 99 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: to a Washington Nationals game and not wear a mask. 100 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: And what is this argument that somehow we should defer 101 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: to people who others have decided have an expertise but 102 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: were never elected. Isn't that exactly what happens when you 103 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: saw governor say, well, our health commissioner says you can't 104 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: open your business, So you can't open your business during COVID, 105 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: you can't go to church. 106 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 2: We elect leaders to be leaders. 107 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: At all times, take in the data points and then 108 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: make decisions. I didn't elect some doctor who sits on 109 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: some board to decide whether or not my business. 110 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 2: Can be open. But this is the argument. 111 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: Being made by a Supreme Court justice that some experts 112 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: should have the power and not the elected president of 113 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: the United States, these. 114 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 3: Issues should not be in presidential control. So can you 115 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 3: speak to me about the danger of allowing in these 116 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 3: various areas the president to actually control the Transportation Board 117 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 3: and potentially the Federal Reserve. 118 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: And if I never served in the military, and I 119 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: am elected president of the United States, to which I 120 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: would be awesome. 121 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 2: Do I get to be the commander in chief? 122 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: I never served? Barack Obama never served. I don't even 123 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: think that guy ever played with a Gi Joe. Did 124 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: he get to be commander in chief? What an argument? 125 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: A nonsensical argument, Katanji Brown Jackson is making. And then, 126 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: as she does in almost every time she opens her mouth, 127 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: she'll tell you how she doesn't understand all. 128 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 3: These other independent agencies in these particular areas, we would 129 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 3: like to have independence. We don't want the president controlling. 130 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 3: I guess what I don't understand from your over arching 131 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 3: argument is why that determination of Congress, which makes perfect 132 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 3: sense given its duty to protect the people of the 133 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 3: United States, why that is subjugated to a concern about 134 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 3: the president not being able to control everything. I mean, 135 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 3: I appreciate there's a conflict between the two. 136 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: No, there's a conflict between your hate for Donald Trump 137 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: and rational thought, Justice Brown Jackson. If the president was 138 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: elected and said here's what we're going to do and 139 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: there's an agency that he can't replace leadership to get 140 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: what he wants done done, you think that's okay. That's 141 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: not a check in balance. That is the people being 142 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: usurped and not being able to have the full effect 143 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: of their vote, to not be able to make changes 144 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: is well. I would argue disenfranchisement, my vote doesn't count. 145 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 2: Me area is that the court decided I shouldn't have 146 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 2: a say. I'm the voter, I'm the citizen. I gotta 147 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 2: say in all of it, keep it here. 148 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,599 Speaker 1: I'm Tony Katz, and this is Tony Katz today,