Free Republic

1. Is Harry Reid keeping the Senate open again? It doesn't seem like it.... 2. In that case - is Bush making recess appointments? He ought to. Thanks.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy took 29 seconds Monday to open and close the Senate, the latest move in a standoff with President Bush over recess appointments. Senate Democrats are holding a series of "pro forma" sessions to stop recess appointments by President Bush. Kennedy was the only senator in the chamber when he gaveled the session open shortly after 9 a.m. ET. Four women from the anti-war group Code Pink also were on hand. After a clerk read a statement from Senate Pro Tempore Robert Byrd saying Kennedy would perform the duties, the Massachusetts Democrat immediately gaveled...

Dec. 26, 2007, 4:25PM Senate meets for 9 seconds to block Bush appointment By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Subscribe NOW Comments (40) Recommend WASHINGTON — The House was quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with President Bush. A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be...

The US Senate is holding special one man sessions throughout Christmas and the New Year to prevent President George W. Bush from making appointments without the approval of the Democratic majority. With the bang of a gavel, Democratic Senator Jim Webb declared the first session open on Sunday morning before closing it seconds later, without any of his colleagues present in the hall. The brief ceremony will be repeated every two to three days until January 18, when lawmakers resume their work after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The Democratic majority is staging the move to avoid any formal...

Two days before Thanksgiving the Senate had a 22-second session, a fleeting moment in the life of an occasionally droning body but plenty of time for majority Democrats to keep President Bush from making "recess" appointments. Senators have been taking turns standing sentry duty this week — just to prevent Bush from circumventing the confirmation process by immediately installing people in federal posts while the chamber is in recess. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who carried out that less than glamorous task Tuesday, is a relative newcomer, a low-ranking freshman and a senator who lives just minutes from the Capitol; he...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will keep the U.S. Senate in session over the Thanksgiving break because he wants to block President Bush from making any recess appointments. Roll Call is reporting that Sen. Reid inserted a statement into the record Friday stating that he will "hold the Senate in a series of pro forma or nonvoting sessions" to prevent Bush from exercising his appointment power. Reid said, “While an election year looms, significant progress can still be made on nominations. I am committed to making that progress if the President will meet me halfway.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has decided to keep the chamber in session over the Thanksgiving break to block President Bush from making any unsavory recess appointments while Senators are out of town.

IN ELEMENTARY school, recess is a time for fun and games. The same is true, unfortunately, in the nation's capital. President Bush last week took advantage of a Senate recess to appoint three controversial figures to positions — including a major ambassadorship — that ordinarily require confirmation. In the spirit of the playground, Vice President Dick Cheney yukked it up with talk show host Rush Limbaugh about how the administration had gone around the Democratic-controlled Senate, which returned this week. "You go on vacation, this is what happens to you," joked Limbaugh. "If you're a Democrat," Cheney replied. Sam Fox,...

One of the stranger things to happen in recent political discourse -- and this is a crowded field -- is the morphing of global warming into a left-wing plot, a conspiracy by godless scientists to ... well, it's not clear what benefit the scientists get from spreading lies about global warming. Maybe they just want research money to study this nonexistent warming thing. I have a pretty good idea where that meme started. If you believe that global warming is man-made, then you believe that greenhouse gases are a bad thing. If you believe they're a bad thing, you believe...

Manassas Journal Messenger Editorial, January 24, 2006 Myers appointment makes us wonder It is abundantly clear that Washington is not listening to pleas for immigration enforcement from communities like ours. In fact, it looks as if the Bush administration doesn’t care at all. During the recent holiday recess of Congress, President Bush used a tool implemented by other presidents to slip some appointments past the congressional approval radar. Among them was the naming of Julie L. Myers as Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE in the Washington vernacular. If the residents...

Recess appointments: a constitutional response to a non-functioning Senate Mary Mostert August 5, 2005 President Bush's use of a recess appointment to fill the vacant position of United Nations ambassador is being criticized by the Democrats, who appear to be opposing John Bolton primarily because they oppose any attempt to reform the UN. They have blocked the full Senate from being able to vote on the Bolton nomination with only 38 of the 100 senators voting against the motion to end debate on the issue. The Los Angeles Times, MSNBC and other liberal media outlets have been particularly annoyed by...

Big John, Big John Big Bad JohnTo be sung to the tune of Jimmy Dean's classic county tune. Ev'ry mornin' at the UN you could see him arrive He stood five foot nine and weighed one sixty five Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip And everybody knew ya didn't give no lip to Big John. (Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John) Chrissy Dodd sures hates now that John’s at home He was recessed into town and stayed all alone He didn't say much, kinda quiet and shy And if you spoke at all,...

In 1961, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, John F. Kennedy was at the very beginning of his term. But the reforms had already begun. State-sponsored segregation was under attack from not only the executive branch but also from firebrand upstarts situated just north and south of the Mason-Dixon line. One of these- the most successful- was a black man named Thurgood Marshall. He was barely out of Howard University in 1933 when the civil rights movement swept him up and carried him to national renown. Beginning out of his small private practice in Baltimore and then, in 1940,...

In 1961, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, John F. Kennedy was at the very beginning of his term. But the reforms had already begun. State-sponsored segregation was under attack from not only the executive branch but also from firebrand upstarts situated just north and south of the Mason-Dixon line. One of these- the most successful- was a black man named Thurgood Marshall. He was barely out of Howard University in 1933 when the civil rights movement swept him up and carried him to national renown. Beginning out of his small private practice in Baltimore and then, in 1940,...

A Look at Presidential Recess Appointments By The Associated Press The Associated Press Monday, August 1, 2005; 9:12 AM -- Presidents since George Washington have made appointments during congressional recesses to fill positions in the executive and judicial branches. Under the Constitution, the president can make temporary appointments while the Senate is in recess, without Senate approval. The appointment lasts through the end of the following one-year session of Congress. Following are some of the more notable recess appointments: ___ President Bush: 106 recess appointments, including Bolton, mostly to minor posts. ================ President Clinton: 140 recess appointments over two terms....

Today, in an unprecedented move, President Bush announced that he would use a recess appointment to install his embattled nominee John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations -- over the objection of Senate Democrats and many Republicans. The appointment comes amid unanswered questions regarding Bolton's involvement in an ongoing State Department probe about the use of false intelligence. Bush's decision to circumvent bipartisan opposition to Bolton is another example of the White House's willingness to abuse their power and silence critics in an effort to reward loyal political allies, even at the expense of America's international stature and national...

Bush Refuses to Back Down in Face of International Criticism of Bolton An AP News AnalysisBy Tom Raum Associated Press Writer Published: Aug 1, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's appointment of U.N. critic John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the world organization was an in-your-face gesture, to Congress and to the global community. It comes at a sensitive time on Capitol Hill, where Bush needs the support of senators for his nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. Internationally, it comes during a new round of fragile six-nation talks in Beijing aimed at persuading North Korea to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Charging that John Bolton was "not truthful" in answering questions about his record, 36 senators urged President Bush on Friday not to make a recess appointment of Bolton as U.N. ambassador following the Senate's failure to confirm him for that job.

WASHINGTON - President Bush intends to announce next week that he is going around Congress to install embattled nominee John Bolton as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, senior administration officials said Friday. Bush has the power to fill vacancies without Senate approval while Congress is in recess. Under the Constitution, a recess appointment during the lawmakers' August break would last until the next session of Congress, which begins in January 2007. Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president had not made the announcement and Congress wasn't in recess yet, said Bush planned to exercise that...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Bush administration has no choice but to name John Bolton as UN ambassador during a Congressional recess, influential opposition Senator Joseph Biden said.Right now, it's the only way" to get Bolton to the United Nations, said Biden, who has been among the most vocal opponents of the controversial administration nominee who has been a harsh UN critic and favors a hardline toward Iran and North Korea.The nomination, met with skepticism even among Bush's own Republicans, would normally be confirmed by the Senate, but Democrats have managed to stall Bolton's several times.The White House hinted Monday that...

WASHINGTON — Frustrated by Senate Democrats, the White House hinted Monday that President Bush may act soon to sidestep Congress and install embattled nominee John Bolton (search) as ambassador to the United Nations (search) on a temporary basis. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush has used his power for temporary appointments when "he has to get people in place that have waited far too long to get about doing their business." He said that "sometimes there's come a point" when Bush has decided he needs to act. Bolton's nomination has been stalled for months. Critics say Bolton, who...

WASHINGTON - Frustrated by Senate Democrats, the White House hinted Monday that President Bush may act soon to sidestep Congress and install embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on a temporary basis. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush has used his power for temporary appointments when "he has to get people in place that have waited far too long to get about doing their business." He said that "sometimes there's come a point" when Bush has decided he needs to act. Bolton's nomination has been stalled for months. Critics say Bolton, who has been...

The Center for Security Policy today released an open letter to President Bush commending him for his nomination of John R. Bolton to become the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations – and urging a recess appointment be made to ensure Mr. Bolton is in place before the U.N. tries in September to impose international taxes on American citizens. The letter states, in part: In our judgment the Nation can ill-afford further delay of action on the Bolton nomination. As you know, the United Nations has a very full agenda this Fall. Given the momentous nature of that agenda...

1. The Constitution gives the President the power, when necessary, of direct appointment to federal Judicial and high Executive branch positions. This is through the recess appointment. 2. The Constitution gives the Senate the power to create their own rules; and apparently rules can be made that subvert other sections of the Constitution. This has been proven in the Senate's subversion, via the filibuster, of their Constitutional requirement to advise and consent on the President's nominees to higher courts and executive branch positions. 3. Based on the President's recess appointment power, this obstructionism of the Senate can be overcome, but...

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...

Last night, Senate Democrats reaffirmed their commitment to the “agenda of the roadblock.....” Voinovich has enjoyed so much positive press due to his bucking the Republican Party, that he has now changed his vote on the cloture matter and urging President Bush to revoke Bolton’s nomination.... President Bush is right to get Bolton confirmed with a recess appointment, but I hope it does not come to it. If he chooses to, the international press and the American left will label this maneuver an abuse of power and a sign of a politically weakened President. They are wrong, but they will...

A recess appointment: Get Bolton on board Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Republicans are floating the possibility of giving John Bolton a recess appointment as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Raise the sails, mateys, raise the sails full. Filibustering Democrats did just about everything imaginable to smear Mr. Bolton and scuttle his ship as it prepared to sail into Turtle Bay. Some tacks were dangerous -- such as demanding to see classified information that, knowing this crowd, surely would have been leaked. Others were silly -- such as saying Mr. Bolton wasn't very nice. What's needed at the U.N., of...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected three challenges to President Bush's recess appointment last year of conservative former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a federal appeals court. Attorneys for several criminal defendants had argued the president can only make such an appointment during a recess at the end of the year between sessions of Congress, not during an adjournment in the middle of a congressional session like in Pryor's case. They also said the presidential power extended only to recess appointments for the executive branch of the government, not those for the federal judiciary, and that Bush's "unilateral"...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Federal judge Charles Pickering, appointed by President Bush less than a year ago without Congressional approval, said Wednesday he will step down from the bench. President Bush elevated Pickering, 67, with a recess appointment in January, which temporarily sidestepped the confirmation process. Some Democrats accused Pickering of being racially insensitive and harboring anti-abortion views. Such recess appointments, which need no Senate confirmation, are valid only until the next Congress takes office, in this case in January 2005. Democrats could have tied up his permanent nomination when Congress next meets. "The actions of the minority leave me...

JACKSON, Miss. Federal appeals Judge Charles Pickering could learn soon whether he'll be confirmed for his seat on the Fifth U-S Circuit Court of Appeals.If the Senate doesn't confirm Pickering before it adjourns next month, he'll be forced to retire from the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans. He currently fills the seat under a recess appointment from President Bush. The Senate has confirmed 204 of the president's judicial nominees. There are 22 nominations pending, including Pickering's. But Pickering's confirmation has been doubtful. Senate Democrats have threatened a filibuster against Pickering's confirmation. They accuse him of supporting segregation as a...

Judge Charles Pickering could learn soon whether he'll be confirmed for a federal appeals court post, a doubtful prospect for the jurist accused of being racially insensitive and anti-abortion by Democrats in the U.S. Senate. If the Senate doesn't confirm Pickering before it adjourns in December, he'll be forced to retire from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, a post he currently holds by a recess appointment.

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that President Bush did not overstep his authority when he appointed William Pryor to the bench while the Senate was on a holiday break. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who argued that the Alabama judge's appointment to the same court was an end-run around the Senate's right to confirm or reject the president's judicial nominees. Pryor was appointed to the 11th Circuit during the Presidents' Day recess in February, after the Senate refused twice to bring his nomination to a floor vote. His nomination had...

President Bush on Friday announced his intention to make 20 appointments during the congressional recess, including a new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, a manufacturing czar and three ambassadors. For FTC chairman, Mr. Bush intends to appoint Deborah Majoras of Virginia to replace Timothy J. Muris, who is stepping down. Mrs. Majoras, a former Justice Department deputy assistant attorney general, was one of the lead lawyers in the government's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. Mrs. Majoras' nomination has been blocked in the Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, who said there was no evidence she would change FTC...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday announced his intention to make 20 appointments during the congressional recess, including a new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, a manufacturing czar and three ambassadors. For FTC chairman, Bush appointed Deborah Majoras of Virginia to replace Timothy J. Muris, who is stepping down after three years. Majoras, a former Justice Department deputy assistant attorney general, was one of the lead attorneys in the government's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Edward Kennedy is trying for the third time to persuade the colleagues of federal appellate Judge William Pryor to bump him from the bench. The Massachusetts Democrat is asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to rule that President Bush's appointment of Pryor in February during a congressional recess was unconstitutional. "Immediate consideration of this issue is critical: Judge Pryor has already sat or is scheduled to sit on over 60 cases, all of which may have to be reheard and re-decided if his appointment is ultimately adjudged invalid," Kennedy said in a...

If it were not for his fondness for tax cuts, and his pursuit, however flawed, of the ongoing war on terror, I can't for the life of me think of a good reason to vote for George Bush this November.  OK .. The Poodle's name on the ballot would be a fairly good reason .. though I'm not sure reason enough. You've probably heard by now, but George Bush has once again managed the nearly impossible physical feat of handing his head to the Democrats ... again. He gave up; ran for the hills; threw in the towel; bailed. Tragically,...

May 19, 2004, 8:41 a.m. Across Washington today, Republicans who follow the judicial confirmation wars are asking themselves this question about Tuesday's deal between the president and Senate Democrats on the issue of judicial recess appointments: Was the agreement a clear-eyed, well-reasoned decision by the White House to make the best of a bad situation, or was it a flat-out presidential surrender? After a meeting Tuesday morning between White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the White House promised not to make any more judicial recess appointments for the...

Bush Nominates, Appoints 24 to Various Posts Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:03 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush nominated or appointed 24 people to various posts on Friday. Bush used the presidential power to appoint four nominees while Congress is in recess -- something that has infuriated Democrats, especially when it involves judges. In this case, Bush is promoting four men and women to federal positions including undersecretary of education Eugene Hickok to become Deputy Secretary of Education. Edward McPherson, now chief financial officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was recess-appointed to replace Hickok as undersecretary. Other recess...

<p>WASHINGTON — All White House nominees will be blocked. That's right: every single one.</p> <p>That's the word from Sen. Charles Schumer's (search) office, which released a statement on Friday saying that Senate Democrats plan "to hold nominations until the White House commits to stop abusing the advise and consent process."</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Friday threatened to stop all of President Bush's judicial nominees until the White House agrees not to appoint any more judges while Congress is out of town.</p> <p>Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Democrats had decided to block all judicial nominees on the Senate floor until "the White House gives us the assurance that they will no longer abuse the process."</p>

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) chastised Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on Tuesday for sending a letter to a district court questioning the constitutionality of a recent recess appointment made by President George W. Bush. As previously reported by Talon News, Bush exercised his constitutional authority to appoint a half dozen judicial nominees which had been filibustered by the Democratic minority in the U.S. Senate on February 20. One of these appointments included Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor Jr., who was named to fill a vacancy on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is over federal court appeals from Alabama,...

<p>Republicans have accused Democrats of reaching "absurd" new lengths to block President Bush's judicial nominees.</p> <p>The accusations were prompted by a letter this week from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals asking the panel to consider whether Mr. Bush's recent appointment of its latest member was unconstitutional.</p>

U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is threatening a legal challenge to one of President Bush's recess appointments. The liberal senator claims the appointment of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a position on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was unconstitutional. At issue: Was the 10-day period when Congress was away a recess according to the Constitution? Pepperdine University Law Professor Douglas Kmiec argues that it was."Certainly, the modern practice of Republican and Democrat presidents alike is that intrasession appointments are constitutional so long as the recess was at least 3 days," Kmiec said. Kennedy, however, believes that only when...

One of the first men to receive a recess appointment tried to drown himself in a river and said it would be better if the man who appointed him — President George Washington — would die rather than sign a historic treaty. The incident forecasted the tumult and controversy that surrounds recess appointments to this day — the latest example being President Bush’s controversial recess appointment of Judge William Pryor to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. Washington made three recess appointments to district courts. In 1795, he named John Rutledge by this method to serve as chief...

Pryor sworn in as judge Bush appoints attorney general to 11th Circuit while Congress is away 02/21/04 MARY ORNDORFF News Washington correspondent WASHINGTON - Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor was sworn in Friday as a federal judge just minutes after President Bush sidestepped a sharply divided U.S. Senate and placed him in the job while Congress was on break. Pryor stepped down as attorney general and can now start hearing cases with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, an Atlanta-based court one level below the U.S. Supreme Court. From Our Advertiser "His impressive record demonstrates his devotion to the...

<p>President Bush bypassed a Democratic filibuster yesterday by installing Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — his second recess appointment in as many months.</p> <p>Mr. Bush's action will allow Mr. Pryor to sit on the appellate bench, without Senate approval, until next January when the term of the present congressional session expires.</p>

Bush Installs Appeals Court Nominee Who Was Blocked by Senate Democrats By Jeffrey Mcmurray Feb. 20, 2004 Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Bypassing angry Senate Democrats, President Bush installed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as a U.S. appeals court judge on Friday in his second "recess appointment" of a controversial nominee in five weeks. Pryor's federal appointment has been vigorously opposed by Democratic senators who have objected to his past comments and writings on abortion and homosexuality. Bush praised Pryor as a "leading American lawyer" and said he had been pushed past the Senate's normal confirmation process because of...

The Hatch problem. President Bush's recess appointment of Judge Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit follows a string of other actions that make it clear: When it comes to the judge battle, the gloves are off. Unfortunately, Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch hasn't gotten the memo. Hatch's politeness and charity towards his Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, often the source of frustration for conservatives in Washington, is now acutely damaging to the struggle to get conservative judges onto the federal bench. Specifically, Hatch's eagerness to comply with the Democratic witch-hunt — cooked up to draw attention away from embarrassing memos...

<p>January 23, 2004 -- Let's state at the outset that we're not enamored of "recess" appointments, whereby a president appoints an office-holder while Congress is not in session, allowing the official to hold the job for one year.</p> <p>Too often, such appointments are used simply to evade congressional confirmation. Bill Clinton was a serial abuser, and we criticized him whenever he did it.</p>

An overwhelming percentage of recess-appointed judges—approximately eighty-five percent by one count—have been subsequently confirmed for lifetime appointments by the Senate.3 President Kennedy, one of the most prolific users of the recess-appointment power, enjoyed the best record, with all twenty-five of his recess appointees subsequently being confirmed. President Eisenhower made twenty-seven recess appointments and lost only one subsequent confirmation. President Truman, the record holder with thirty-nine recess appointments, secured confirmation for thirty-three appointees. President Coolidge won confirmation for twenty-two of twenty-five recess-appointed judges, and President Theodore Roosevelt secured Senate approval of twenty-six of thirty. Recess appointments have been used for the...