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Top Democrat vows to block possible Bush nominee 41 minutes ago Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed on Wednesday to block former Solicitor General Theodore Olson from becoming attorney general if President George W. Bush nominates him to replace Alberto Gonzales. Congressional and administration officials have described Olson as a leading contender for the job as the nation's chief U.S. law enforcement officer, but Reid declared: "Ted Olson will not be confirmed" by the Senate. "He's a partisan, and the last thing we need as an attorney general is a partisan," Reid told Reuters in a brief hallway interview on...

The Utah mine tragedy underlines the importance of oversight of presidential appointments Saturday, August 18, 2007 T he United States Senate knew exactly how to respond when Richard Strickler was nominated to monitor the health and safety of U.S. miners. It rejected him. Twice. Last year, President Bush waited until October, when senators were out of town, to hand Stickler what's called a "recess appointment," meaning he got the job without having to be confirmed. As the drama unfolds beneath Utah, it seems none to soon to re-examine quite what was the Senate's concern? It turns out that senators, who...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Wednesday threatened to block Republicans from forcing a vote on a Mississippi judge in a new fight in the well-trod arena of judicial confirmations. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would move to kill the Republicans' symbolic resolution calling for a vote of the full Senate on the appeals court nomination of Leslie Southwick of Mississippi. The motion could come as early as Thursday. Democratic leaders wanted to wait to see if the nomination survived a Thursday session of the Senate Judiciary Committee, several officials said. Republicans said any vote on Southwick's...

NOTE: there are rumors that Justice John Paul Stevens may be very ill and will soon retire. If the Dems take the Senate, all may not be lost. They would certainly not allow a conservative nominee out of committee and, if they don't take the Senate, they would certainly filibuster a conservative. =============================================================================== QUESTION FOR C-SPAN: President Clinton has made some controversial “recess appointments.” How do these work? Don’t they go against the confirmation powers of the Senate? Loami, Illinois - 5/3/00 ANSWER: No, both are found in the Constitution in Article II, section 2. Clause 2 gives the Senate...

The New York Times, other liberal media and various UN advocacy groups are launching a pre-emptive attack against UN Ambassador John Bolton’s re-nomination. After an up-or-down Senate vote was blocked last year, Bolton was given the job as UN Ambassador by President Bush anyway as a presidential recess appointment. That appointment expires at the end of this Congressional term in January 2007. Hence, Bolton’s nomination is coming up again before the Senate, with a hearing scheduled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for this Thursday, July 27th.

Debbie Schlussel: BREAKING: As PREDICTED by SCHLUSSEL, Unqualified Julie Myers Gets Bush Recess Appt. to Head ICE By Debbie Schlussel DAMN! You heard it here, first. Back in November, we broke the news that Julie L. Myers--President Bush's unqualified nominee to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)--would get a recess appointment. Unfortunately, yet another of our dark predictions has come true (like our Al-Arian-would-walk prediction). Today, the White House announced that President Bush gave Ms. Myers the ultimate undeserved Christmas present over the holidays. Bush gave Julie Myers a recess appointment as Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, overseeing ICE. Happy...

ASHINGTON — President Bush on Wednesday bypassed the Senate to install former Navy Secretary Gordon R. England as deputy secretary of defense. He used a similar maneuver to name Julie L. Myers as assistant secretary of homeland security for immigration and customs enforcement. Myers grew up in Johnson County. In all, Bush named 17 persons to government positions, using recess appointments to bypass senators who had blocked the nominations. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved Myers’ nomination in October, with all nine committee Republicans voting in favor. The panel’s six Democrats objected, saying she lacked sufficient experience...

President George W. Bush on Wednesday bypassed the Senate during the congressional recess and appointed Gordon England to be deputy defense secretary. Bush had nominated England when he was Navy Secretary to the No. 2 Defense Department post to succeed Paul Wolfowitz in March, but the nomination stalled in the Senate amid concern among some lawmakers. England has been acting deputy defense secretary and was performing most of those duties. Bush also did a recess appointment for Dorrance Smith as head of the Pentagon's public affairs department after the nomination ran into resistance among some Democrats on the Senate Armed...

Navy Secretary Gordon England-- who has also been serving as the acting deputy defense secretary-- gave up his Navy post Thursday, clearing the way for a new naval leader. The move will allow Donald Winter to be sworn in as Navy secretary next week. Congressional roadblocks have prevented Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld from filling key leadership positions in his department for months. But legal maneuvering by the White House, which formally designated acting deputy England as Rumsfeld's second in command last week, allowed England to relinquish the Navy job. Two senators have blocked England's confirmation as deputy defense secretary,...

I know this is a nit, but why do some news outlets (like Fox) say Bush has 110 recess appointments but others (AP) say he has 106? AP http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/01/AR2005080100476_pf.html President Bush: 106 recess appointments, including Bolton, mostly to minor posts. Fox http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164443,00.html So far, President Bush has made 110 recess appointments. Among the most controversial were William Pryor (search) to be a judge on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and Charles Pickering (search) to be a judge on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush again invoked a constitutional provision enabling him to bypass the Senate and install a nominee who had been blocked in the Senate. This time, he named Peter Flory to be an assistant secretary of defense. The move Tuesday came a day after Bush used the same power to install John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The Constitution gives the president the authority to put an official on the job without waiting for Senate confirmation when Congress is in recess. The official then can serve until the end of the current Congress, which in...

<p>THE PRESIDENT: Nearly five months ago, I nominated John Bolton to be America's Ambassador to the United Nations. I chose John because of his vast experience in foreign policy, his integrity and his willingness to confront difficult problems head-on. I told the nation that John Bolton would provide clear American leadership for reform at the United Nations. I told them that he would insist upon results.</p>

President Bush may use a recess appointment early next week to install John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, two senior administration officials told CNN Thursday. The move would likely inflame some Democrats who have said Bolton doesn't have the temperament to hold the U.N. post. The administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to put an exact time frame on when the recess appointment might occur. But they suggested the White House is planning to make the move as early as next week. White House press secretary Scott McClellan hinted at the scenario Monday, saying it...

The White House signaled on Monday that President Bush may bypass the Senate and appoint John Bolton, his embattled nominee for U.N. ambassador, to the post temporarily as hope faded for a Senate vote on the nomination. Congressional aides said a recess appointment could be announced as early as Friday night, immediately after the Senate is scheduled to adjourn for the monthlong August break. A recess appointment would allow Bolton to take up the U.N. post but he would serve only until January 2007. The nomination of the blunt-spoken conservative has been held up by accusations he tried to manipulate...

John R. Bolton's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations was the hottest issue in Congress a few months ago. But it has virtually evaporated this summer, eclipsed by speculation over a Supreme Court nominee and the fate of the president's top political adviser. With neither the White House nor Senate Democrats showing any sign of yielding in their long-running dispute over documents related to Bolton's State Department work, speculation is rife that Bolton is prepared to accept a recess appointment good through the end of 2006, despite warnings from some GOP senators that it would weaken his influence...

DAYTON | The most vocal Republican opponent to John Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations said there is a "55/45" chance the Bush administration will name Bolton to the job while Congress is in recess. But Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, also said, "I have a gut feeling that logic will prevail" against appointing Bolton. "It's like the children's story, the Emperor's Clothes: Everybody knows he's in his underwear and nobody will say it," Voinovich said Friday in an interview with the Dayton Daily News editorial board. Voinovich's outspoken opposition to Bolton's appointment has attracted national attention. He allowed...

THE BITTERLY contentious nomination of John Bolton to be UN ambassador comes to a showdown this holiday weekend. With the Senate having twice refused to break a filibuster over Bolton, President Bush may use his power to make a recess appointment during Congress's Fourth of July break. Bolton would then serve without Senate confirmation until the next Congress ends, in late 2006. Or Bush could withdraw Bolton's name. Bolton's views on the UN are hostile. He is known as a short-tempered martinet. He got poor reviews for his last job as undersecretary of state for arms control. For instance, Bolton...

If Democrats Preclude John Bolton from Serving as the next U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., then the President Should Nominate Alan Keyes June 27, 2005 Steven T. Voigt "I look at an organization that is unrepresentative, elected by no one, where dictators and tyrants have the same right to send representatives to make substantive decisions that will affect our jobs and livelihood in a fashion totally contrary to our constitution. . . . The question is whether the US should belong to an organization that violates our constitutional principles." —Alan Keyes Iowa GOP debate December 13, 1999 I am disappointed...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The controversy over John Bolton would not affect his performance as the new US ambassador to the United Nations, even if President George W. Bush is forced to sidestep Congress and appoint him directly, the last person to hold the job said. "I don't think anybody at the United Nations cares whether Bolton is supported by 60 senators or 50 senators," John Danforth said. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri who stepped down as Washington's UN ambassador in January after seven months on the job, said UN diplomats only want to know if Bolton has the...

Democrats blocked another attempt Monday by the Senate to confirm John Bolton to become U.N. ambassador, delivering a second-straight setback to President Bush even as he left the door open to temporarily installing Bolton on his own. The Republican-run chamber fell six votes short of the 60 it needed to end Democratic delays that have prevented a roll call on confirming the tough-talking conservative. The vote was 54-38 in favor of ending the delays. The tally left Bush facing stark choices — most of which could leave him appearing weak at a time he is facing sagging poll numbers and...

Senator Thomas Andrew Daschle, aka Tom Daschle, of South Dakota, hails from Aberdeen, South Dakota, population about 25,000, where there is posted on a federal highway a federal sign noting Aberdeen is his hometown. Perhaps without the sign he would be baffled in trying to find his way home. The sign does not mention that following a South Dakota State College degree and three Air Force years the Daschle career has been on the taxpayers' payroll - first a Senate staffer, then a Representative in Congress, then a Senator. His biography claims all manner of (mostly local) awards; obviously his...

More Provocation Saturday, February 21, 2004; Page A18 THE NOMINATION of Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit was, from the beginning, a provocation on the part of the Bush administration. Yesterday Mr. Bush made that provocation all the more provocative by installing Mr. Pryor -- who has been held up by a Democratic filibuster -- by recess appointment. Mr. Pryor is the second judge the president has placed on the bench using this procedure, which allows the president to bypass Senate confirmation for appointments made on a temporary basis....

Bush to again use recess appointment for judicial nominee01:56 PM CST on Friday, February 20, 2004Associated Press WASHINGTON - Bypassing Senate Democrats who have stalled his judicial nominations, President Bush will use a recess appointment to put Alabama Attorney General William Pryor on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at least temporarily, government sources said Friday. The White House began informing senators Friday afternoon of Bush's intention, said one Senate source, speaking on condition of anonymity. Two White House officials, also speaking on condition of anonmity, confirmed Bush's plan to install Pryor, and said a paper announcement was likely...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bypassing Senate Democrats who have stalled his judicial nominations, President Bush installed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. Bush praised Pryor as "this leading American lawyer" and complained that the Senate had unfairly blocked him and other White House nominees."A minority of Democratic senators has been using unprecedented obstructionist tactics to prevent him and other qualified nominees from receiving up-or-down votes," Bush said. "Their tactics are inconsistent with the Senate's constitutional responsibility and are hurting our judicial system."Pryor was immediately sworn in in Alabama.The White House had...

Range: 1d 5d 3m 6m 1y 2y 5y max Type: Bar | Line | Cdl Scale: Linear | Log Size: M | L Compare: ^DJI vs    S&P    Nasdaq    Dow    Index Value: 10,650.6602 Trade Time: 2:22PM ET Change:  14.07 (0.13%) Prev Close: 10,664.7305 Open: 10,666.29 Day's Range: 10,580.6602 - 10,688.2197 52wk Range: 7,416.6401 - 10,753.6299 Components - More on ^DJI...

Today, Bill Pryor accepted a recess appointment to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals from President Bush. He will resign his position as Attorney General of Alabama effective immediately and will be sworn in at 2:00 p.m. CST. Democrats have blocked the President's attepmt to appoint Pryor since he was first nominated in April 2003. Pro-abortion groups worked extremely had against Pryor, an outspoken opponent of aborition.General Pryor has been a fantastic Attorney General and will be an excellent jurist.

Coalition for a Fair Judiciary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kay Daly February 20, 2004 (703) 822-9831 Coalition Hails Recess Appointment of Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals President Recess Appoints While The Senate Obstructs (WASHINGTON, DC) – The Coalition for a Fair Judiciary today hailed the recess appointment of Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. “A minority of Senators are obstructing several of President Bush’s judicial nominees at the behest of extreme left-wing special interests. Enough is enough,” said Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary. “This recess...

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush sidesteps Congress and names Mississippi Judge Charles Pickering to federal appeals court, sources say.

This is posted as breaking news on msnbc's website. Did a search and didn't see it anywhere. Nothing follows for now. Anyone know anything?

Haven't seen this discussed much if at all. Anyone's opinion is certainly welcome.

Fred Barnes just said that it looks as if president Bush will make a brave move and make a recess appointment naming Daniel Pipes to the Peace organization he set up (I forget the exact name of it).

Bush Plans to Sidestep Senate on Daniel Pipes By Adam Entous Reuters | August 13, 2003 Over objections from some Muslim American groups, President Bush is expected to sidestep Congress and appoint a Middle East scholar who has been derided by critics as anti-Muslim to a federally funded think tank, congressional sources said on Tuesday. Bush's recess appointment of Daniel Pipes could spark a backlash from some Muslim Americans and Democrats in Congress, who oppose his nomination to serve on the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, which was created by Congress to promote peaceful solutions to world conflicts....

Aug 12, 2003 Bush to Make Recess Appointment to Peace Institute By Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is expected to bypass the Senate and appoint an outspoken Middle East scholar to a federal think tank over the objections of Democrats and others who say he is anti-Muslim. According to sources close to the matter, Bush intends to appoint Daniel Pipes, director of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, to the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace. The move would come just weeks after Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee raised...