red states rule
Senior Member
- May 30, 2006
- 16,011
- 573
- 48
Pres Bush outfoxed libs once again. As libs left town on another vacation, Pres Bush was on the job.
Who will be the first lib to cry foul?
Bush outflanks Congress to name fundraiser ambassador after Democrats opposed him
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass the Senate where Democrats derailed Fox's nomination last week.
In the U.S. system, the Senate must confirm with a majority vote presidential nominees to ambassadorial posts.
Fox's appointment, made while lawmakers were out of town on spring break, and thus not subject to Senate action, prompted angry rebukes from Democrats who said Bush's action might even be illegal.
Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Democratic Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat's election loss to Bush.
Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation in the Foreign Relations Committee, Bush withdrew the nomination last week. On Wednesday, with the Senate gone on a one-week break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job.
This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the constitutional end of the Bush presidency.
"It's sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate," Kerry said in a statement.
Sen. Chris Dodd, also a Democrat, a candidate for president in next year's campaign and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he plans to ask the General Accountability Office for an opinion whether the recess appointment is legal.
The recess appointment is intended to give the president flexibility should Congress be out for an extended period, such as its four-week adjournment during the warm months. Dodd said the law was not intended to circumvent lawmakers' right of approval.
"This is really now taking the recess appointment vehicle and abusing this beyond anyone's imagination," Dodd said. "This is a travesty."
Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. Senate Democrats rejected in February the president's nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government's retirement program.
Presidents since George Washington have made appointments during congressional recesses to fill positions in the executive and judicial branches. Bush has used the authority more frequently than some but not all of his most recent predecessors, making 171 so far compared with 140 for President Bill Clinton during two terms, 77 by Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, in one term and 243 by President Ronald Reagan during two terms.
Bush's more notable recess appointments include John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton arrived at the United Nations in August 2005 after being appointed during a congressional recess because he twice failed to be confirmed by the Senate. Still unable to get Senate backing, he stepped down in December, when his recess appointment could not be repeated. Another contentious recess appointee was Otto Reich as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere in January 2002.
Fox, a 77-year-old businessman from Missouri, gave $50,000 (37,450) to the Swift Boat group. He is national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition and was dubbed a "Ranger" by Bush's 2004 campaign for raising at least $200,000 (149,790). He is founder and chairman of the Harbour Group, which specializes in the takeover of manufacturing companies.
Fox has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes since the 1990s.
In answer to questions about the Swift Boat donation, Fox has said he gives when asked, insisting he was not involved with the writing of the ad scripts and never saw them before they aired but had been aware of the general thrust of the group.
Fox issued a statement saying he is "delighted and honored" to accept the ambassadorial appointment.
"As the son of a man who fled Europe to find freedom and a better life, I am especially humbled by the opportunity to return to that continent as this nation's representative," he said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/04/news/Bush-Bypassing-Congress.php
Who will be the first lib to cry foul?
Bush outflanks Congress to name fundraiser ambassador after Democrats opposed him
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass the Senate where Democrats derailed Fox's nomination last week.
In the U.S. system, the Senate must confirm with a majority vote presidential nominees to ambassadorial posts.
Fox's appointment, made while lawmakers were out of town on spring break, and thus not subject to Senate action, prompted angry rebukes from Democrats who said Bush's action might even be illegal.
Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Democratic Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat's election loss to Bush.
Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation in the Foreign Relations Committee, Bush withdrew the nomination last week. On Wednesday, with the Senate gone on a one-week break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job.
This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the constitutional end of the Bush presidency.
"It's sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate," Kerry said in a statement.
Sen. Chris Dodd, also a Democrat, a candidate for president in next year's campaign and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he plans to ask the General Accountability Office for an opinion whether the recess appointment is legal.
The recess appointment is intended to give the president flexibility should Congress be out for an extended period, such as its four-week adjournment during the warm months. Dodd said the law was not intended to circumvent lawmakers' right of approval.
"This is really now taking the recess appointment vehicle and abusing this beyond anyone's imagination," Dodd said. "This is a travesty."
Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. Senate Democrats rejected in February the president's nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government's retirement program.
Presidents since George Washington have made appointments during congressional recesses to fill positions in the executive and judicial branches. Bush has used the authority more frequently than some but not all of his most recent predecessors, making 171 so far compared with 140 for President Bill Clinton during two terms, 77 by Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, in one term and 243 by President Ronald Reagan during two terms.
Bush's more notable recess appointments include John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton arrived at the United Nations in August 2005 after being appointed during a congressional recess because he twice failed to be confirmed by the Senate. Still unable to get Senate backing, he stepped down in December, when his recess appointment could not be repeated. Another contentious recess appointee was Otto Reich as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere in January 2002.
Fox, a 77-year-old businessman from Missouri, gave $50,000 (37,450) to the Swift Boat group. He is national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition and was dubbed a "Ranger" by Bush's 2004 campaign for raising at least $200,000 (149,790). He is founder and chairman of the Harbour Group, which specializes in the takeover of manufacturing companies.
Fox has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes since the 1990s.
In answer to questions about the Swift Boat donation, Fox has said he gives when asked, insisting he was not involved with the writing of the ad scripts and never saw them before they aired but had been aware of the general thrust of the group.
Fox issued a statement saying he is "delighted and honored" to accept the ambassadorial appointment.
"As the son of a man who fled Europe to find freedom and a better life, I am especially humbled by the opportunity to return to that continent as this nation's representative," he said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/04/news/Bush-Bypassing-Congress.php
