Federal Vacancies Reform Act

Ensuring Compliance in Federal Staffing

PEER works to ensure that the President follows United States federal statutes for filling vacancies in an executive agency. When they fail, PEER challenges their actions. For example, during the Trump Administration there were repeated violations of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act for delegating authority to lower-level political appointees to “exercise the authority of” the Directors of its major bureaus, such as the National Park Service and BLM, without obtaining the Senate’s confirmation for them required under law. These appointees managed almost 350 million acres of our national parks and rangelands, covering almost one-seventh of the nation’s land area. They managed tens of thousands of Interior staff and oversaw key regulatory functions. PEER and other groups challenged these detours around the “advice and consent” of the Senate required under Article 2 of the Constitution, with good Court decisions being the result. Many fewer such procedural abuses have occurred during the Biden Administration. PEER remains alert to enforcing this fundamental “separation of powers” to avoid concentrating too much power in the President’s hands.

FVRA NEWS FROM PEER

COMMENTARY | Trump Vs. Biden: Federal Governance

A comparison of the Trump Administration and the first two years of the Biden Administration on their Good ...

Op-Ed | Biden’s Leadership Vacancies at Interior Recall Trump’s Track Record

The department plays a pivotal role in fulfilling many of the administration’s goals. It deserves more than ...

BLOG | Restoring Confidence in the Senate Confirmation Process

After four years of deceit under the Trump administration, it is time to restore confidence in government, ...

BLOG | Is Pendley Indispensable at BLM or Just Undetectable?

A federal court in Montana is now determining which of William Pendley actions as illegal head of the Bureau of ...

PEERMail | “Advice and Consent” Is the Law

Secretary Bernhardt continues his carousel of illegal appointments with new de facto NPS Director Margaret Emerson

BLOG | Pendley Debacle Unmasks David Bernhardt’s Legal Charades

Judge rules WIlliam Pendley cannot serve as a de facto Director of the BLM despite the anemic arguments to the ...

New Temporary Park Service Appointment Is Illegal

Lawsuit Amended to Invalidate Latest “De Facto” Park Service Director 

BLOG | Trump’s Temporary Insanity

Trump's latest attempt to avoid the Senate’s confirmation process is Lanny Erdos of the Office of Surface Mining ...

Pendley BLM Nomination Means He Must Step Down  

Federal Vacancies Law Forbids Nominees to Serve as “Acting Officer” 

Pendley’s Forked Tongue on BLM Law Enforcement

In FOIA Suit, Pendley Admits Law Enforcement Policies Did Not Change 

BLOG | There Is No “Trump Exemption” – That Is Why We Are Suing

PEER and Western Watersheds Project sued the Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, alleging that Bernhardt ...

Lawsuit Seeks Ouster of Park Service and BLM Leaders  

Violations of Constitution and Vacancies Act Charged for Unconfirmed Chiefs  

Lawsuit Threat on Illegal Interior Appointments

Redelegations for Park Service and BLM Violate Federal Vacancies Reform Act 

Agencies’ Leadership Vacancies Tied to Poor Pandemic Response

Groups Urge Senators to Rein in Trump Constitutional Abuses

Nobody Home at National Park Headquarters

Special Assistant a No-Show; Two-Thirds of Top Slots Vacant or Acting

Conservationists Call for Temporary BLM Lead William Perry Pendley to Step Down

91 Groups Call for William Perry Pendley to Resign or be Removed from Office

Lawsuit to Restore E-Bikes Ban in National Parks

New E-Bikes Order Springs from Industry Lobbying and Violates Laws

Suit to Trace Path from Rebel to Uber-Bureaucrat

BLM Must Disclose Circumstances Behind Putting William Pendley in Director’s Chair

Horrid Time to Work Inside Interior Department

SES Shudders at Clueless Reorganizations and Parade of Temporary Leaders

No Direction – National Park Service and BLM to be Run by Lower Deputies for 3 Years

Trump and Bernhardt Continue to Deny Senate Role in Confirming Directors

New Park Service E-bike Order Invalid

NPS Edict Violates Federal Laws and Misinterprets Interior Directive

New BLM Acting Director Threatens Agency’s Existence

Ultra-Right Wing Lawyer William Pendley is Uniquely Unqualified to Run BLM

Peer Files New Information on Illegal Actions by Park Service Deputy Director

Inspector General Asked to Take Action Against Department of the Interior Violations

National Park Service Accused of Illegal Appointment

PEER Asks Inspector General to Reject David Vela as Deputy Director of Operations

BLOG: Bernhardt’s Bad Actors

Eight political appointees are leading most of the Department of the Interior bureaus without the required “advice ...

Vacuum in Vacancies Act Policing

GAO Is Lackadaisical in Detecting and Reporting Illegal Acting Appointments

Musical Chairs Shuffle National Park Service Leadership

Multiple Involuntary Moves Appear Designed to Force Targeted Managers to Retire

Temporary Interior Department Directors Illegal

All Decisions by Acting Park Service, BLM, and Fish & Wildlife Heads Legally Void
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