RFK has found a home in the Trump administration. He has been appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, pending Senate confirmation. The Department of Health and Human Services oversees 11 agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Nominations to the office of Secretary of HHS are referred to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the United States Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, before confirmation is considered by the full United States Senate.
They sure did ! I was looking at that graph and wishing I could post it here, @John Brunner . Also, there is a chart showing the budget for each of the departments, and the HHS is at the very top of the list with way more budget money than any other department, even our defense budget. I remember reading that Biden had stolen some of the medicare money, which was going to make the cost of medicare go up (but it would not show until after the election), and I see that SS has two budgets, a large one that says off-budget, and then a smaller one that is on budget. I imagine that. Lot of that HHS budget has been going for all of the services for the illegals, food, housing, debit cards to buy other stuff. Once most of the non-productive illegals are gone, Kennedy will have a great budget to help the American people and work on our health care.
It takes a 2/3 vote, so it is almost never done--three times in total and none in the 20th or 21st centuries. Senators know that if it is used against someone else, it can later be used against them. When things were run as the Founders intended, the state legislatures could recall Senators, but I don't know how it works now.
Trump has nominated North Dakota governor Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. Burgam had been rumored for that position as well as to head up the Department of Energy. But they go hand-in-hand, since Interior "manages the nation's natural resources." Interior controls 20 percent of all land in the United States and handles matters related to the United States’ insular areas, which include various Pacific islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also includes the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Ocean Management. Burgam was born & raised in North Dakota. Prior to serving in government, the North Dakotan stewarded the growth of an accounting software firm, Great Plains Software. It was eventually sold to Microsoft, which Burgum then joined. He was in the running to be Trumps V.P.
Trump picks former Rep. Doug Collins for Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Collins had been in the Senate representing Georgia until he lost the seat in 2020. Collins is a veteran, was deployed to Iraq, and is a U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain.
From the Constitution: Article 1, Section 1 The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. Article 1, Section 3 The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. Article 2, Section 4 The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. I assume the powers discussed for the House and the Senate refers to impeachment of their respective members.
I think "officers" refers to non-elected officials except in the specified. I don't see how the House could impeach a member of the Senate.
I see what you mean regarding non-elected officers. But I took the wording to mean that the House impeaches their own, and the Senate impeaches their own. Now that you point this out, I'd have to research beyond what the language says, because it's not clear to me.
I think, from what I determine, that it isn't impeachment when the House and Senate remove their members since there is no indictment really. There is just an accusation and a trial.
Reports of FDA employees mass resignation after RFK nominations might clean up the administration somewhat. The FDA has been pretty useless for some decades now, as it is essentially run by those it is supposed to regulate. Here is Buddy Brown's take on it:
If there are mass resignations, that's merely evidence of how corrupted our systems are. The Beast shall not go quietly into that good night, I fear.