Court backs Hogan on power to appoint

Judges split 4-3, order back pay for former Cabinet secretaries Schrader, Peters

Gov. Larry Hogan scored a significant legal victory Thursday as the state’s highest court struck down the General Assembly’s attempt to constrain his appointment powers and ordered that two former Cabinet secretaries receive back pay the legislature wanted to withhold from them.

The ruling appears to strengthen the hand of governors in any disputes with the legislature regarding controversial appointments. It also represents a defeat for Democratic Attorney General Brian E. Frosh, who issued an opinion upholding lawmakers’ attempt to prevent the Republican governor from reappointing officials who failed to win Senate confirmation.

The Court of Appeals split 4-3 in the case, which involved Hogan’s appointments of Dennis R. Schrader as health secretary and Wendi Peters as planning secretary in 2016. When the Senate balked at confirming either in early 2017, Hogan withdrew the nominations and then reappointed them after the session ended.

Anticipating the governor’s move, lawmakers wrote language into the budget blocking spending on salaries that year for any officials subject to confirmation who had been rejected by the Senate Executive Nominations Committee or whose names had been withdrawn. As of July1of that year, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp stopped paying the two although they continued to run their departments. Frosh and Kopp are Democrats.

Schrader and Peters, who were later given new jobs in their departments and went back on the payroll, sued. The court found the budget language didn’t pass constitutional muster and ordered the treasurer to give them back pay.

“I’m certain that the legislature severely regrets taking this action,” Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said. “Their zeal to push a petty personal vendetta against two hardworking public servants has resulted in the Court of Appeals completely neutering their ability to recklessly legislate through the budget.”