One member of Congress has offered legislation aimed at stopping President Donald Trump’s July 10 Executive Order that gives agency bosses the authority to appoint Administrative Law Judges (ALJs).
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, (D-Virginia) offered an amendment to an appropriations bill that would prevent the use of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) funds to achieve Trump’s Executive Order,” according to an article by FCW, an online technology publication. The Trump order comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia v. SEC where the court ruled that an ALJ at the Security Exchange Commission had no authority to offer rulings because of how the ALJ was selected. The Court said the appointment process violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Prior to this ruling by the Supreme Court, the OPM chose ALJs for Social Security, but the Trump order now enlists agency heads and commissioners to choose ALJs.
After Scott’s proposed legislation, the American Bar Association (ABA) voiced its support for the measure. In a letter issued to the U.S. House Rules Committee, ABA President Hilarie Bass said that it is understandable that the Supreme Court’s ruling requires changes to the ALJ selection process, but Trump’s Executive Order is a rushed and overreaching response.
“There is no doubt that changes to the current selection and appointment process for ALJs are required by Lucia, but we believe that those changes should be instituted after there has been an opportunity for Congress and the public to engage in an open and deliberative process that considers possible options for curing the constitutional defects in the current process,” Bass said.
Bass said the ABA, and its more than 400,000 members, are requesting Congress seriously consider adopting Scott’s amendment, which would cutoff funding for Trump’s Executive Order, otherwise political motivation could influence the ALJ appointment process by agency bosses.
“Nothing less than the integrity of the administrative judiciary is at issue here,” Bass said.
