Just eleven days in office, the Trump administration seems to have jettisoned the traditional "no surprises" edict, with a multitude of surprises emanating from the White House.
No wise president would ever sign an order without input from others. A draft of a proposed executive order invariably comes from subordinates in the executive branch, hopefully people with specialized knowledge.
How should the president make his choice? It should have nothing to do with how a nominee fits in to Trump’s coterie of friends, family or admirers. A Supreme Court seat is not a bauble to hand out to chums or aides in the manner of a monarch granting titles to faithful servants.
“It’s natural for new political leadership to want to review anything before it goes out the door,” said Chris Lu, the director of the Obama administration’s transition and now a senior fellow at the University of Virginia Miller Center. “But what seems to be happening here may be more pernicious.”
