Major Garrett Tells Stephen Colbert New Attorney General May be Illegitimate

The Senate must first confirm the Attorney General for his authority to be legal.

attorney general
The Acting Attorney General might not be legit.(Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call)
CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

With Jeff Sessions out, America’s new Acting Attorney General is Matt Whitaker — but he might not yet have the actual powers of his position.

That was a question raised by CBS chief White House correspondent Major Garrett when he was a guest on Wednesday’s Late Show. 

Garret told Stephen Colbert that while Whitaker’s new title poses a threat to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s open investigation — Whitaker has previously condemned the inquiry — his authority may not be fully legitimate.

“This is a Vacancy Act legal question, the Senate hasn’t confirmed him, how can he run a Cabinet agency?” Garrett said. “So this is not just ‘Well, what is he going to do?’ but ‘Can he actually do this?’”

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