Education Secretary Zoie Saunders speaks at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Education Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on April 23, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — Vermont’s Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case challenging Gov. Phil Scott’s appointment of Zoie Saunders to be the state’s interim education secretary last year after lawmakers rejected her.Last March, Scott tapped Saunders — then a Florida school administrator — to fill the vacancy left by the departure of former Secretary Dan French a year prior. But the Vermont Senate voted 19-9 against Saunders’ permanent appointment, with lawmakers raising concerns that she had spent little time in public education and served as an executive at a for-profit charter school company.Immediately after that vote, however, Scott appointed Saunders to serve as interim secretary. That decision angered some lawmakers, and two — Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central and the now-retired Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor — sued the governor. In September, a superior court judge dismissed the suit, saying the Senate’s vote did not prevent the governor from making the interim appointment. Vyhovsky and McCormack then appealed to the Supreme Court.The case turns on whether the governor had the authority to appoint Saunders in an interim capacity — right after lawmakers voted to reject her. During Wednesday’s hearing, Jared Carter, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that Saunders’ interim appointment was invalid.Outside of the legislative session, Carter argued, the governor has the power to fill vacant positions. But during the session, he said, the appointment process is governed by law requiring the “advice and consent of the Senate” — which, last year, the Senate did not give.“The position that we take, and I think this is supported by the law — there is, in fact, no such thing under Vermont law as an interim secretary of anything,” Carter said. READ MORE But Jonathan Rose, a lawyer with the Vermont attorney general’s office, argued that such an interpretation relied on language that simply did not exist. The dispute over Saunders, he said, was rooted in politics. For other positions in Vermont state government, Vermont statute puts explicit limitations on gubernatorial appointments, Rose noted. Members of the Green Mountain Care Board, for example, cannot be appointed if they have been denied Senate confirmation in the past six years. But in this case, the governor’s appointment authority has “no restrictions,” Rose argued. “The plaintiffs are asking this court to read into (law) restrictions on whom the government can appoint on an interim basis.”With the lawsuit pending, Scott reappointed Saunders to the position in November in a permanent capacity. Her current term concludes on Feb. 28, after which Scott could re-appoint her and again seek Senate confirmation. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, has proposed holding off another confirmation vote for Saunders until later in the session.A second vote could turn out differently from the first one. Since her initial appointment, Republicans have gained six seats in the Senate, while three Democrats who voted in support of Saunders also departed the chamber.Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont Supreme Court hears challenge to education secretary’s interim appointment.