Michigan Law Review Volume 107 Issue 2 2008 Nothing Improper? Examining Constitutional Limits, Congressional Action, Partisan Motivation, and Pretextual Justification in the U. S. ttA orney Removals David C. Weiss University of Michigan Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr Part of the Administrative Law Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Legislation Commons, and the President/Executive Department Commons Recommended Citation David C. Weiss, Nothing Improper? Examining Constitutional Limits, Congressional Action, Partisan Motivation, and Pretextual Justification in the U. S. ttA orney Removals, 107 MICH. L. REV. 317 (2008). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol107/iss2/3 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NOTE NOTHING IMPROPER? EXAMINING CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS, CONGRESSIONAL ACTION, PARTISAN MOTIVATION, AND PRETEXTUAL JUSTIFICATION IN THE U.S. ATTORNEY REMOVALS David C. Weiss* The forced mid-term resignations of nine U.S. Attorneys was an un- precedented event in American history. Nearly one year after the administrationexecuted the removals, the House Judiciary Commit- tee was still reviewing and publicizing emails, memoranda, and other documents in an effort to understandhow the firings were ef- fectuated. This Note examines many of those documents and concludes that the removals were likely carried out for partisan reasons. It then draws on the Constitution, Supreme Court prece- dent, and separation of powers principles to argue that Congress is constitutionallyempowered to enact removal limitationsfor inferior officers such as U.S.