The old Gaffer is at it again. Senator McCain says, if he were President, he'd fire SEC Chariman Christopher Cox:
"The chairman of the S.E.C. serves at the appointment of the president and in my view, has betrayed the public’s trust,’’ he said at a rally in an airport hangar here. "If I were president today, I would fire him.’’
Wrong in two ways. For starters, the President doesn't appoint the SEC Chair; he or she nominates the Chairperson. The Senate confirms the nominee. You'd think a veteran US Senator would know that.
Second point: Mr. Cox is filling a term that expires in June of 2009. The President cannot fire members of independent government agencies.
Update: h/t to
Progressive energy, who diaried this earlier today.
From ABC:
But while the president nominates and the Senate confirms the SEC chair, a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission cannot be removed by the president.
From time to time, presidents have attempted to remove commissioners who have proven "uncooperative." However, the courts have general upheld the independence of commissioners. In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt fired a member of the Federal Trade Commission and the Supreme Court ruled the president acted unconstitutionally.
Asked how McCain would fire Cox if the president does not have the formal power to fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the McCain campaign pointed to former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt who resigned in 2002 when it was made clear to him that he had lost the confidence of the Bush administration.
That's suasion, Senator. Pitt quit. As President, you can't fire Cox.
Not to mention, of course, that Cox was a champion deregulator in his day -- exactly the kind of guy McCain liked. Now, Cox is another Republican thrown under the Straight Talk Express.
McCain's stance on Cox is shiny-brand-new. For some history, check
this piece in the Nation. Here's a slice:
Cox, a former California congressman who worked closely with McCain on a number of issues when McCain's Senate Commerce Committee chairmanship coincided with Cox's House Eneregy and Commerce Committee asignment, and who was recently boomed as a prospective vice-presidential running mate for the Republican, will be excused if he feels like he is the one who has been betrayed.
Cox's nomination to serve was considered by the Senate in the summer of 2005, at a time when McCain was positioned, as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, to raise any concerns he might have had -- and even to hold hearings -- about the selection. As McCain, himself, bragged this week: "I understand the economy. I was chairman of the Commerce Committee that oversights every part of our economy."
While that statement was a bit of a stretch, it is reasonable to suggest that the Commerce Committee chair could have identified an opening (perhaps through the committee's responsibility for overseeing interstate commerce) to hold a hearing and raise concerns about Cox.
Instead, McCain made no complaint and ceded responsibility for reviewing the Cox nomination to the Banking Committee, which has primary responsibility for reviewing SEC nominations. The Banking Committee gave Cox a predictable free ride from the Wall Street-friendly Republicans and Democrats who pack the panel.
My only question: How can he twist the knife with a straight face?