The Vacancies Act and Its Anti-Ratification Provision

Abstract

This and prior Vacancies Acts have been sidestepped by administrations of both political parties. To ensure that Congress sets the terms by which officials can temporarily act in offices that it creates and vests with authority, the most recent law on acting officials, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA), included an anti-ratification provision. At the time the law was passed, that provision was feared and lauded as something so powerful as to dissuade and forbid future sidesteps of the Vacancies Act. But like other aspects of the law, that provision has been distorted over time through suspect legal interpretations and atextual inferences. This article elucidates that anti-ratification provision and more clearly explains when it applies and why it is a vital and potent part of the FVRA.