Let's be clear about this: from a constitutional standpoint, the purpose of recess appointments was to allow the president to keep federal offices filled during the periods when the Senate was not in session. The purpose of the power was not to allow the president to sidestep the need to secure the advice and consent role. To allow it to serve this purpose would, of course, make the advice and consent clause meaningless.
Apparently the president does not understand this.
President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress where Democrats had derailed Fox's nomination.Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat losing the election.
Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last month.
Sen. Chris Dodd is pissed, and he has every reason to be. Bush's move is almost certainly both illegal and unconstitutional.
I really am getting very tired of all this.
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