At The New Reform Club, Seth Barrett Tillman: Representative Robert Goodloe Harper: A House Manager at the Blount Impeachment. Although a short post, it's hard to summarize. The issue at the Blount impeachment trial was whether Blount, a Senator, could be impeached (which turned on whether a Senator is a "civil Officer[ ] of the United States" under Article II, Section 4. Harper argued that Blount was such an officer but Professor Tillman argues otherwise. And that leads to the conclusion that "officers of the United States" are only appointed — and so in turn that:
In every day language, the presidency is an officer of the United States, but that is not how that language is used in the Appointments Clause and elsewhere in the Constitution of 1787.
Posted at 1:13 AM