Zoie Saunders, interim secretary of education, speaks during Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference held at the Central Vermont Technical Center in Barre on June 11, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
After a lower court judge dismissed two senators’ lawsuit over the appointment of Interim Education Secretary Zoie Saunders, the lawmakers on Thursday appealed their case to the Vermont Supreme Court.
Sens. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central, and Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, sued Gov. Phil Scott and Saunders in June over the governor’s decision to reappoint Saunders immediately after the Vermont Senate voted 19-9 not to confirm her.
The lawmakers argued Scott had overstepped by reappointing Saunders despite the Senate’s initial rejection of her permanent appointment.
But Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert Mello sided with the executive branch. In his decision, issued late last month, he wrote that “Ms. Saunders is not intended to be indefinite in some manner usurping the Senate’s advice and consent authority.”
Mello also noted an example of when Vermont’s elected officials had passed laws limiting the governor’s appointment power, adding that no statutes explicitly prevent a governor from reappointing a secretary voted down by the Senate.
With appeal paperwork submitted Thursday, no new arguments have been filed, and no hearing date is set.
Disclosure: Jared Carter, an attorney for the senators, is providing pro bono legal assistance to VTDigger in an unrelated public records case.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Senators appeal lawsuit over interim education secretary to Vermont Supreme Court.