Tenure of Office Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tenure of Office Act (14 Stat. 430, March 2, 1867), enacted over the veto of President Andrew Johnson, denied the President of the United States the power to remove from office anyone who had been appointed or approved by the United States Senate unless the removal was also approved by the Senate. This included officials whom the President himself had appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.
In the post-Civil War political environment, President Johnson endorsed the quick re-admission of the Southern secessionist states. The two-thirds Republican majorities of both houses of Congress, however, passed laws over Johnson's vetoes, establishing a series of five military districts overseeing newly created state governments. This "Congressional Reconstruction" was designed to create local civil rights laws to protect newly freed slaves; to police the area; to ensure the secessionist states would show some good faith before being readmitted; and, arguably, to inflict some punishment on the secessionists. States would be readmitted gradually.
The Tenure of Office Act permitted the President to suspend an officer while the Senate was not in session--at that time, Congress sat during a relatively small portion of the year. If, when the Senate reconvened, it declined to ratify the removal, the President would be required to reinstate the official.[1]
In August 1867, the President suspended Secretary of War Edwin Stanton pending the next session of the Senate. However, when the Senate convened on January 3, 1868, it refused to ratify the removal by a vote of 35-16. Notwithstanding the vote, President Johnson attempted to appoint a new Secretary of War. Proceedings began within days, leading to Johnson's impeachment, the first ever of a United States President, but after a three-month trial, Johnson avoided removal from office by the Senate by a single vote. Stanton resigned in May 1868.
It was actually unclear whether Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act. The act's phrasing was murky, and it was not clear whether his removal of Stanton (a holdover from the Lincoln administration whom Johnson had not appointed) violated the Act.
In 1878, the act initially prevented President Rutherford B. Hayes, as part of his effort at civil service reform, from removing Chester A. Arthur and Alonzo B. Cornell from their political patronage jobs at the New York Customs House. Eventually, with Democratic help in Congress, he circumvented the act and secured confirmation of his own appointments.
In 1887, the Tenure of Office Act was repealed. In 1926, a similar law (though not dealing with Cabinet secretaries) was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Myers v. United States, which affirmed the ability of the President to remove a Postmaster without Congressional approval. Since the Myers decision allows the President to remove an inferior officer without Congressional approval, he cannot be required to seek such approval to remove a superior officer, such as a Cabinet secretary.
