Introductory Note
Following Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent testimony before Congress, I read an article by Charles C. W. Cooke, Senior Editor for the National Review, titled "Fauci Makes the Case for SCOTUS’s Decision in Slaughter.” In Trump v. Slaughter, the Supreme Court held that Congress could not insulate FTC commissioners from removal by requiring "cause,” meaning the President may remove them at will. The Supreme Court reversed a lower court and overruled the old precedent that had upheld those removal protections, sharply expanding presidential control over the FTC and similar independent agencies.
Public Servants Are Not Sovereigns
By Frank Fota, LTC, USA (Ret.), VFW Post 3103 Auxiliary
The American constitutional order begins with a simple but profound premise: our government derives its legitimacy from the people. Public officials do not rule by personal right. They exercise authority that belongs to the public and is delegated to them by law, under strict constitutional limits.
A line in Charles C. W. Cooke’s article, "Fauci Makes the Case for SCOTUS’s Decision in Slaughter,” gave me pause. He wrote that public employees should not be treated as "…immortal philosopher kings, but as the temporary employees of the figures whom we are able to reprimand and remove.” This line restates, in plain language, a core republican principle: those who serve the public are accountable to the public.
The Constitution does not create a priesthood of permanent administrators insulated from political control. Instead, it creates a system of separated powers, checks and balances, and public accountability. Congress writes the laws, the executive branch enforces them, and the courts interpret them. Within that structure, federal officers and employees are not sovereign actors. They are unelected agents of a constitutional system that ultimately answers to the people through elections, oversight, appropriations, and, where applicable, removal.
This point matters because modern government and our media often give the opposite impression. Experts, administrators, and agency leaders frequently speak and act as though specialized knowledge itself confers authority beyond criticism. But expertise is not the same thing as constitutional legitimacy. A public health official may know more about epidemiology than the average citizen, but knowledge does not erase the fact that the office exists inside a constitutional framework designed to keep power answerable. The Constitution does not authorize rule by credential. It authorizes government by law.
The controversy surrounding Anthony Fauci serves as a useful example because it perfectly captures this broader tension. Fauci became one of the most visible unelected figures in recent American life, wielding enormous influence during the pandemic. For supporters, he represented expertise and continuity. For critics, he embodied the danger of a public official whose authority grew large enough that ordinary accountability seemed to fade. Whatever one thinks of Fauci personally, the constitutional lesson is larger than one man: public officials who shape national policy should never be treated as if they are beyond oversight simply because they are experts or familiar faces.
This is where our constitutional structure becomes essential. In a republic, accountability is not a nuisance; it is a core design feature. Elections give the people power over elected officials. Congress has the authority to investigate, legislate, and fund or defund programs. The executive branch can supervise its own officers. The courts can enforce legal limits. Through these institutions, the people
can reprimand and remove those who overreach. That is not anti-government; it is constitutional
government.
Some will object that public administration requires stability and professional independence. That is
true up to a point. No serious constitutional argument requires every government employee to be
politically disposable. However, independence is not immunity. A republic may protect civil service
competence while still insisting that public servants remain servants, not masters. The key difference
is between insulation from partisan whim and insulation from accountability itself. The Constitution
supports the former far more readily than the latter.
Cooke’s formulation is persuasive because it reminds all of us that public office is a trust. A trustee
does not own the trust. A public officer does not own the state. The people are not subjects waiting to
be managed by a permanent governing class; they are the true source of a public office holder’s
legitimacy. When public employees lose sight of that truth, the result is not merely arrogance. It is a
dangerous constitutional drift away from republican self-governance.
In the end, the issue is not whether government employees matter. They do. The issue is whether
they remember the nature of their authority. In a constitutional republic, the answer must always be
the same: it is temporary, delegated, and accountable. The people do not exist to serve the
government. The government exists to serve the people.
Reference List
1. Cooke, C. C. W. (2026, July 29). Fauci makes the case for SCOTUS’s decision in Slaughter.
National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/fauci-makes-the-case-for-scotussdecision-
in-slaughter/
2. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Basic obligations of public service.
https://www.doi.gov/ethics/basic-obligations-of-public-service
3. Justia. (n.d.). The removal power :: Article II. Executive Department. U.S. Constitution
Annotated. https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/article-2/28-the-removal-power.html
4. Northwestern University Law Review. (n.d.). Accountability claims in constitutional law.
Scholarly Commons.
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1329&context=nulr
5. U.S. Congress. (n.d.). Hearing record involving Dr. Anthony Fauci. Congress.gov.
https://www.congress.gov/118/chrg/CHRG-118hhrg55830/CHRG-118hhrg55830.pdf
6. NBC News. (n.d.). Report on Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment in congressional testimony.
NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/anthony-fauci-5th-amendment-testifycovid-
hearing-rand-paul-rcna589793
7. University of California, Berkeley Law. (2025, January 19). Independence and accountability in
public service. Berkeley Law. https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wpcontent/
uploads/2025/01/Independence-and-Accountability-in-Public-Service_Fisk_1.19.25.pdf