Following the Senate’s confirmation of Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) last week, President Donald Trump’s acting DNI, William Pulte, continued serving illegally for nearly a week after Clayton’s confirmation.

A new blog post from Thomas Berry, the director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, details how this violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), writing in part:

“The plain text of the FVRA and its contemporaneous understanding by both the legislative and executive branches all point to the same conclusion: William Pulte’s authority to exercise the powers of the DNI ended the moment Jay Clayton was confirmed by the Senate. By continuing to act as if he had such authority for all of last week, Pulte has put any actions that he or the agency may have taken during that time in legal jeopardy. Any employees that Pulte purported to fire after Clayton’s confirmation would have a strong case in court that they were never lawfully terminated. In the long run, the administration may have only hurt itself with this unprecedented delay.”

To speak with Berry, contact Christopher Tarvardian.