Issue 2.17
Over the next two or three weeks, the transition teams and the inaugural teams will do all they can to keep America on track as we change Presidents and the congress and begin to consider the appointments by the new administration – especially the cabinet. This peaceful transfer of power is not unique to the United States, but when our nation was founded, the first such transition (from George Washington to John Adams) set many precedents and perhaps more importantly, the expected attitude and deportment of the departing president.
President Washington gave one of the most important addresses in our history as he left office. He warned of the dangers of political parties and of entangling alliances with foreign powers along with a lot of other good advice. What he did not do was criticize or create doubt about the ability or good intentions of his successor, John Adams, even though they had run for the office against each other in a previous election. Adams watched and copied many of Washington’s approaches to how he conducted himself, and how he treated both the office of President and his successor, Thomas Jefferson. Adams even maintained pretty much the whole cabinet that Washington had appointed as his cabinet.
The cabinet is a council of advisors to the president and are basically the heads of the divisions of the Executive Branch of government. The President does not have to listen to or follow the advice of those advisors, and many Presidents have not done so in some remarkable instances. For example, John Adams went against the council of most of his cabinet when it came to declaring war against France. They mostly wanted war, but he chose to use diplomacy and found a way to avoid war while maintaining American interests.
Over the intervening years, Presidents have added numerous cabinet departments to the government. George Washington had five members of his cabinet. As of this writing, there are 15 cabinet posts and a few others that are considered “cabinet level” offices. The most recently added is the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Cabinet members are proposed by the President, but must be approved by the Senate. This is one of the checks and balances that are provided by the US Constitution. If a President’s appointments fall short of what the Senate believes are proper standards of ability, propriety, integrity or morality, they can refuse to approve them and the President must find another candidate or leave the office vacant. In reality, the Senate chooses whether or not to seat the cabinet and it is their duty to refuse to seat those they find are not qualified for some reason.
This is another area where we, the citizen voters have an opportunity to make a difference in government. If you study the qualifications and intents of those who are being appointed by President-Elect Trump and find a problem you consider serious, you should write to your Senators (Lee and Hatch) and any other Senators you think might listen and express your concerns and any reasons for them. If your senators are unresponsive to your concerns, you can work to replace them when they next come up for re-election. Most citizens do not take the time to do this or feel it is not worthwhile, but it can make a difference. Between those actually rejected by the Senate and those whose names were withdrawn when it became obvious they would not be approved, there have been about a dozen people who have not succeeded in joining the cabinet after being chosen by the President.
The active citizen who understands the Principles of Freedom can make a difference. Often we can make more of a difference with our letters and public comments through newspapers, radio and social media than we can make with our votes. Let us all do what we can to make our country better and do what we can to avoid problems that may loom on the horizon.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.