Office of Home Security

[Glenn Reynolds]

Lynne's concerns about the name are not only hers.  I had the
same reaction.  So did the author of these comments, from another
list:

>I agree with and support the President in almost all he said
except one
>notable point: The Homeland Security Secretariat Cabinet
position and
>Bureau sure to follow.
>
>Let me see...how does homeland security sound in German:
>Heimatland Sicherheit.
>
>And the Secretary of this department would be the:
>Sekretär von Heimatland Sicherheit
>
>And of course the enforcement arm of this new secretariat will be:
>Heimatland Sicherheit Dienst.
>
>I must be hallucinating or something. Does any of this sound
familiar?

Date sent:              Sun, 23 Sep 2001 12:19:57 -0700
Send reply to:          Discussion list for con law professors              <CONLAWPROF at LISTSERV.UCLA.EDU>
From:                   Lynne Henderson <hendersl at IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject:                Re: Office of Home Security
To:                     CONLAWPROF at LISTSERV.UCLA.EDU

> Thank you Dawn, for the citations.  I heard that Congress was going to
> treat it as a cabinet position with accompanying requirements of
> confirmation and increased funding.  Is this true?
> One thing has me curious--members of this list are referring to the "Office
> For Home Security."  The President and the media are calling it the "Office
> for Homeland Security."  Plase note--I am not contesting the idea or need
> for a high level coordinator here.  I do think it makes a difference in
> meaning and nuance as to which it is called.  "Homeland" evokes images of
> "fatherland" for me at least, with accompanying shudders, even though
> "homeland" is gender neutral, unlike "fatherland" or "motherland"
> (Russia)  So I am curious as to which it officially is--perhaps Brad
> Clanton can let us know.
> Best
> Lynne
> At 11:51 AM 09/22/2001 -0500, Johnsen, Dawn Elizabeth wrote:
> >The appropriate question, it would seem, is whether the new position is
> >defined such that Gov. Ridge is an officer of the U.S. for purposes of the
> >Appointments Clause (i.e., exercises significant governmental authority), or
> >a presidential advisor (the placement of the position on the WH staff
> >supports the latter).  The Appointments Clause requires Senate confirmation
> >for principal officers, and Senate confirmation also is the default method
> >of appointment for inferior officers (though Congress may vest power to
> >appoint inferior officers in the President alone).  See, in addition to text
> >of Appointments Clause, Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988); Edmond v.
> >U.S., 520 U.S. 651 (1997); The Constitutional Separation of Powers Between
> >the President and Congress, 63 Law & Cont. Problems 514 (Winter/Spring
> >2000), quoting 18 Op. Att'y Gen. 171 (1885)("offices in the constitutional
> >sense 'are only those established or recognized by the Constitution or by
> >act of Congress"; "the President cannot create an office").
> >
> >Dawn Johnsen
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Leslie Goldstein [mailto:lesl at UDEL.EDU]
> >Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2001 8:28 AM
> >To: CONLAWPROF at LISTSERV.UCLA.EDU
> >Subject: Re: Office of Home Security
> >
> >
> >This morning's NYT has clarified
> >1.  Bush created the office as part of his WH staff (yesterday's radio
> >intimated
> >that the salary for it woudl come from the $40 billion emergency
> >appropriation.)
> >2.  Congress IS planning to create the office as a permanent one, on e that
> >would
> >endure beyond Bush's personal preferences for arranging his WH staff.
> >LFG
> >Leslie Goldstein wrote:
> >
> > > so the Q would be whetehr Congress after the fact legitimated these moves
> >by
> > > appropriating specifically for his salary in these posts or whether FDR
> >somehow
> > > just carved the money out of the White House budget or the defense budget
> >or
> > > what?
> > > Leslie
> > >
> > > Barrett John Q wrote:
> > >
> > > > > "David M. Driesen" wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > President Bush announced last night that he was creating and filling
> >a
> > > > > > new cabinet level position, the Office of Homeland Security.  He did
> > > > > > not say that he was asking Congress to create this position and
> > > > > > approve his nominee.
> > > >
> > > > I don't know the President's particulars for Gov. Ridge either, but one
> > > > quasi-precedent that came to my mind last night is FDR getting Justice
> >Jimmy
> > > > Byrnes, a former Senator and future Governor, to leave the Supreme Court
> >in
> > > > 1942 after serving there for only one Term.
> > > >
> > > > >From David L. Anderson's ANB entry on Byrnes:
> > > > "In October 1942 Roosevelt made Byrnes the head of the Office of
> >Economic
> > > > Stabilization, and in May 1943 the president issued an executive order
> > > > creating a superagency, the Office of War Mobilization (OWM), which
> >later
> > > > became the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion (OWMR). As
> >OWM/OWMR
> > > > director with his office in the White House, Byrnes was essentially
> > > > "assistant president" for domestic affairs for the war's duration.
> > > > Roosevelt delegated sweeping executive powers to Byrnes to initiate
> > > > policies, plan programs, and coordinate all federal agencies in
> >production,
> > > > procurement, and distribution of all war materials--military and
> >civilian.
> > > > This arrangement relieved Roosevelt of managing the home front and
> >allowed
> > > > him to concentrate on the military and diplomatic conduct of the war.
> > > > Eclipsing the influence of Vice President Henry Wallace and War
> >Production
> > > > Board chairman Donald Nelson, Byrnes directed such diverse aspects of
> > > > American life as food rationing, sports scheduling, closing time for
> >bars,
> > > > and absentee voting for soldiers. "
> > > >
> > > > JQB
> > > >
> > > > ***************************
> > > >
> > > > John Q. Barrett
> > > > Professor of Law
> > > > St. John's University School of Law
> > > > 8000 Utopia Parkway
> > > > Jamaica, N.Y.  11439
> > > >
> > > > direct:  (718) 990-6644
> > > > School of Law:  (718) 990-6600
> > > > Law Faculty fax:  (718) 990-2199
> > > > School of Law fax:  (718) 591-1855
> > > > email:  barrettj at stjohns.edu


Prof. Glenn Harlan Reynolds
College of Law, University of Tennessee
1505 W. Cumberland Ave., Knoxville, TN  37996-1810

Attempt no more good than the people can bear.  --Thomas Jefferson