|
|
|
RECESS APPOINTMENTS . .Updated Saturday, February 20, 2010 08:36 AM The President Threatens Recess Appointments
President Obama has had it with Senator's holds. He called them "obstructionist" and "theater" when meeting the press on Tuesday. He said pass them or it is time for him to make Recess Appointments when the Senate retires at the end of the week for the President's Day recess. See Details on Recess Appointments here. 02-10-10
Blocking the President: Majority Leader Reid apparently had an understanding with Bush to make prompt nominations of Democrats to various agencies where the leadership is divided between the parties. Reid said he would move nominations along in the Senate - which he says he did with the AG Mukasey nomination. He further suggests that the President hasn't kept his part of this deal. His problem: How to handle the impending Thanksgiving recess of the Congress, and then the subsequent Christmas recess until early January? Solution: Majority Leader Reid did not recess the Senate and has scheduled meetings of that body every 3rd or 4th day with two or more Senators present, and of course, they will immediately adjourn until the next meeting. In this situation, under Senate rules, the Senate will not be recessed in a format that would allow the President to make a recess appointment. Behind this issue: Throughout this Bush administration there has been a political fight between the White House and the Senate - even during the GOP control of the Senate. The GOP has pitched the policy that the President has a superior power in these things - directly in opposition to the Constitution of the United States and in particular to the idea of the Advice and Consent required on many Executive Appointments. There are a number of calculated strategies on the part of the White House based on the Bush Administration frustrations with the shared power philosophies of the United States through its entire Constitutional history. These are raw power moves to eliminate Senate participation in the appointment process. The current struggle in reality is an application of the "checks and balances" doctrines built into the United States government. 11 18 07 The Constitution of the United States provides for Recess Appointments by the President at times when the Senate is away from its public business - in Recess. Historical perspective about the Constitution reminds us that the young United States was a rural nation with a Congress that met only briefly with long recesses in each Session. That led to the practical problem of vacant appointments for long periods when there was no opportunity for confirmation by the Senate. The President has the authority under the Constitution to fill a vacant position that requires Senate confirmation without submitting the nominee to the Senate and waiting for the Senate to confirm or reject. That nominee holds the position with a recess appointment until the end of the Senate session in which he was appointed - without confirmation. Such a nominee can continue in that position after the next Senate Session begins, but must serve without direct or indirect compensation. Until that point - the nominee has all the rights, privileges - and compensation - of a confirmed appointment. The Recess Appointment has a huge potential for controversy. To be fair, it is not a widely used process, and much of the time for the purpose it was intended to serve. Controversy develops - raging controversy develops - when a President makes an appointment fully intending to avoid Senate inspection and confirmation of the nominee. The Senate often is angry - particularly in situations where the nominee has already been rejected by the Senate or somehow been prevented from taking office during the Senate considerations. Interest groups on both sides of the appointment are quick to be heard in these situations. Presidents have been generally consistent in using the Recess Appointments over the life of the United States. While many have been controversial - may have been routine. Even so - the controversy involved has been an issue throughout the experience of the Presidency - and there has been extensive litigation about how it is supposed to be used. One issue is what constitutes recess - does a weekend off for the Senate constitute a Recess for the purposes of the Constitutional provision - answer seems to be "yes.". . Recess Appointments as a Political Issue: Recess appointments rarely become much of a national political issue. The President's recess appointments of John Bolton to the UN Ambassadorship and now the Fox recess appointment to Belgium have given Democrats a powerful corruption issue. Combined with the United States Attorney issues, political appointments are becoming a disaster for the Administration. What is genuinely peculiar about this situations is that the President has an absolute legal right to deal with the appointments as he has, but has developed a nearly congenital capacity to mismanage both practices. His political opponents in both parties and in the public are using both situations to weaken the White House on Iraq and other subjects. This is also triggering the movement of power within the Republican Party back to the conservative politicos and away from the White House. The Lame Duck Presidency is moving to a Wounded and Dead-Duck Presidents quickly. 9 10 07
|
Senator
Hatch,
(R-UT)
has
warned
the
President
not
to
use
"recess
appointment"
during
current
recess
to
appoint
a
member
of
National
Labor
Relations
Board.
George
Bush
used
that
route
to
appoint
five
pro-business
lawyers
to
NLRB
during
his
term.
Does
"Good
for
the
Goose,
Good
for
the
Gander"
apply
here?
Obama
is
likely
to
make
this
NLRB
appointment
in
a
few
days.
01-11-10
The United States Senate formally adjourned today after months of proforma
sessions during recess periods to block the Bush administration from making
recess appointments. The dispute between the Senate and the President
became absolute during this period and no recess appointments were successfully
made by the President. See this