Bush might appoint while Senate's away

Orlando Sentinel ^ | January 6, 2002 | AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, unable to get Democrats to move on key nominations, is weighing an in-your-face tactic: a procedural end run around the recessed Senate.

Just as President Clinton learned before him, however, Bush could find that what is fast becoming a recess ritual could touch off more partisan fireworks than he anticipated.

When Clinton invoked the "recess appointment" clause of the Constitution to install an affirmative-action advocate in a top Justice Department post and an openly gay ambassador, it drew the wrath of Senate Republican leaders.

Not only did they complain, but they also retaliated by blocking scores of judicial appointments.

Now that President Bush, a Republican, is considering the same ploy, the Democrats who now control the Senate are griping, invoking the same arguments Republicans did just a few years ago.

At issue: whether Bush will give recess appointments to several high-profile nominations bogged down in the Senate. They include Otto Reich for assistant secretary of state for Latin America and Eugene Scalia, the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as Labor Department solicitor.

Democrats criticize Reich's staunch anti-Castro views and what they contend were his efforts within the Reagan administration to undermine Nicaragua's Sandinista government.

Scalia is opposed by organized labor, in part for his opposition to Clinton-era rules aimed at reducing workplace injuries.

The Senate went on its winter break last month without taking up either nomination. It is not due back until Jan. 23.

The Constitution gives the president the power during Senate recesses to install nominees, without Senate approval, until the end of the next session of Congress.

Some Republican strategists suggest that a recess appointment made now could last two years, until January 2004. Democrats dispute that interpretation, saying a recess appointment made now would expire in January 2003.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Democrats have set up a Stop Otto Reich site

Cuban President Fidel Castro (L), Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (C) and Colombian Andres Pastrana
talk during the closing of the III summit of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) on Margarita Island, Venezuela, December 12, 2001.
Caribbean leaders signed cooperation and trade agreements where Chavez carried his left-leaning agenda into the Caribbean Summit
urging his Caribbean neighbors to shun a U.S.-backed hemispheric free trade zone. REUTERS/Jose Miguel Gomez

WSJ: WHILE CARACUS BURNS Sen. Dodd's petulance threatens national security--[Excerpt] Yet while Caracas burns, the top U.S. policy maker for the region can't assume his post for reasons of petty ideological revenge. Otto Reich--President Bush's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere--still can't get a hearing in Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's subcommittee. Mr. Dodd's petulance has gone beyond the usual Beltway payback and is now creating a leadership vacuum damaging to U.S. national security.

It's hard to recall reading today's headlines, but 10 years ago Latin America's future looked bright. Democracy was on the rise, economies were growing and the era of military coups seemed to be over. The countries did this mostly on their own, but U.S. leadership was crucial. The U.S. nurtured free-market economic ideas and helped against Marxist rebels. That trend stopped during the 1990s, as the Clinton Administration mostly ignored the region for more glamorous priorities. The result today is a region threatened by repression, violence and economic decline.-[End Excerpt]

Last seven months of Hugo Chavez

Jiang Zemin and Hugo Chavez

Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) greets Colombian President Andres Pastrana
on Margarita Island December 11, 2001. REUTERS/Miraflores REUTERS/Miraflores

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) greets Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov
on his arrival to Caracas December 14, 2001.--Russia shopping for launch site in Venezuela

Opposition lawmakers attacked by supporters of Venezuela's President Chavez-- Chavez called the violence a "warning" to the opposition "and its absurd and evil intention" of trying to destabilize his government. He threatened to deploy supporters on "every street corner" to "defend the revolution," as the leftist leader refers to his policies.

[Chapita]

Chris Dodd obstructs the appointment of Reich because Reich was instrumental in stopping the success of communism in Nicaragua! Period!

Dodd may not be a communist but he is certainly PRO-communist!

[proudofthesouth]

President Bush has been more than patient. I think that he should have done this months ago.

[truthkeeper]

He needs to hurry up already. What's he waiting for?

[yoe]

..."the Clinton Administration mostly ignored the region for more glamorous priorities.

The Clinton's in pursuit of their rock star life-style and getting Hillary elected to the U. S. Senate, let the nation flounder and those of our global associates. We are all paying now for the treachery and it continues under the junior senator from New York.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Dodd may not be a communist but he is certainly PRO-communist!

What's the difference?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I think that he should have done this months ago.

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

What's he waiting for?

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

We are all paying now for the treachery and it continues under the junior senator from New York.

Her and the Democrat majority in the Senate are anti-anti-Communist!

[yoe]

Don't you mean "pro" rather than anti?

[Zoey]

Not only did they complain, but they also retaliated by blocking scores of judicial appointments.

Aren't they already doing that?

[Elkiejg]

Everyone should read this revealing ARTICLE L/A> which explains the truth behind Dodd's actions.

[Teacher317]

=^)
Read it again. It's a double-negative...
Hillary's against those who are against communists...
that'd be us FReepers that she's against.

[goldstategop]

There's no downside involved here. Judicial appointments are already on hold. President Bush's problem is not offending the Rats but angering the conservative base if he doesn't show he's not a pushover. For conservatives, Otto Reich and Eugene Scalia are symbols of how much this President really wants to have them work for him to get reelected. A no brainer my friends!

[livius]

I agree. I don't see how the situation could be much worse. The Dems are already blocking everything, as it is. What's to be lost by recess appointments?

I e-mailed the White House about the appointment of Otto Reich, for whatever that's worth. Granted, it's not one of those grass-roots groundswell issues, but a little wave of support couldn't hurt.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

No, I meant the Democrat leadership is ANTI-anti-Communist.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Aren't they already doing that?

Exactly! It is time for Bush to spend his political capital. It won't help letting it pile up like a surplus.

[RobFromGa]

IMO, President George W. Bush should NOT make recess appointments.

This "power" was intended as an "emergency" appointment measure and using it to overpower mere political obstructionism would put him in the gutter with the Dems and Clinton. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Bush needs to continue to paint the Senate Dimwit leadership as obstructionist and make his case to the American people. He needs to raise the level of discussion about what the lack of these judges means to the security of the USA and demand votes up-or-down so he can make other nominations if necessary.

President Bush will need the moral postition the comes from NOT MAKING RECESS APPOINTMENTS further down the line when Supreme Court nominees are considered. Just my 2 cents.

[goldstategop]

Nothing. The President needs to keep the base happy and show his enemies he knows who his friends are. If he does that a lot of people will be more than willing to do anything to get him reelected. And I'm sure he knows it too...

[goldstategop]

Dear Rob, the Rats don't care about morality. They care about power. Once the President withdraws nominations they don't approve of he's neutered for the rest of his Presidency and he knows it and they know it. That's why making these recess appointments is so important to send a message and tell them they can't win.