The Joys of Recess
No matter what you may think of John Bolton, President Bush did the right thing this morning in making a recess appointment.
For almost six years now, the Senate has been playing a childish game of keep-away rather than exercising their Constitutional duty to approve or dis-approve Presidential appointments. Rather than doing their job and going on record with a vote, they have pushed each mildly controversial nominee into a state of filibuster. Note that I said a "state of filibuster" -- these aren't real filibusters like you saw in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. No, these are fake filibusters. No one stays up all night. No one misses dinner. And the other duties of the Senate are carried forward.
And the results? Federal judge seats and ambassador positions remain empty for years at a time. People who have had the honor of being nominated for a position by the President sit in waiting, not knowing whether or not they will be changing jobs. The work of the government does not get done.
Fortunately, the Constitution provides a remedy -- one which this President has been loathe to use: recess appointments. The Constitution gives the right to the President to make judicial and ambassadorial appointments without the approval of the Senate at times when Congress is not in session.
Recess appointments are often pooh-poohed because they can fall into the category of "dirty tricks" -- an appointment can be made with no prior notice, railroading a nominee into position.
But this President has not done that -- he's played fair. Bolton was presented to the Senate five months ago. U.N. Ambassador is a key position -- one that should not be left vacant. But there are factions in the Senate that don't like Bolton. They weren't brave enough to take their concerns to a vote -- so they created a state of filibuster around Bolton, suspending him in political Limbo. The assumption was that, once again, the President would not exercise his Constitutional right to make a recess appointment.
That assumption was wrong, and it's about time. President Bush needs to put an end to this faux filibuster nonsense and start making recess appointments for all of the nominees he has presented to the Senate over the past 5½ years. I'm not saying he should start installing people that have not been discussed before, but certainly it's time to say "enough is enough" to the childish element in the Senate that has put the lives of so many people and the work of the United States judicial system on hold for so long.
Enjoy your recess, Mr. President.
For almost six years now, the Senate has been playing a childish game of keep-away rather than exercising their Constitutional duty to approve or dis-approve Presidential appointments. Rather than doing their job and going on record with a vote, they have pushed each mildly controversial nominee into a state of filibuster. Note that I said a "state of filibuster" -- these aren't real filibusters like you saw in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. No, these are fake filibusters. No one stays up all night. No one misses dinner. And the other duties of the Senate are carried forward.
And the results? Federal judge seats and ambassador positions remain empty for years at a time. People who have had the honor of being nominated for a position by the President sit in waiting, not knowing whether or not they will be changing jobs. The work of the government does not get done.
Fortunately, the Constitution provides a remedy -- one which this President has been loathe to use: recess appointments. The Constitution gives the right to the President to make judicial and ambassadorial appointments without the approval of the Senate at times when Congress is not in session.
Recess appointments are often pooh-poohed because they can fall into the category of "dirty tricks" -- an appointment can be made with no prior notice, railroading a nominee into position.
But this President has not done that -- he's played fair. Bolton was presented to the Senate five months ago. U.N. Ambassador is a key position -- one that should not be left vacant. But there are factions in the Senate that don't like Bolton. They weren't brave enough to take their concerns to a vote -- so they created a state of filibuster around Bolton, suspending him in political Limbo. The assumption was that, once again, the President would not exercise his Constitutional right to make a recess appointment.
That assumption was wrong, and it's about time. President Bush needs to put an end to this faux filibuster nonsense and start making recess appointments for all of the nominees he has presented to the Senate over the past 5½ years. I'm not saying he should start installing people that have not been discussed before, but certainly it's time to say "enough is enough" to the childish element in the Senate that has put the lives of so many people and the work of the United States judicial system on hold for so long.
Enjoy your recess, Mr. President.
posted by Cold Justice at
12:17 PM
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