Bush Uses Recess Appointment Power for Swift Boat Ambassador

In the world of diplomacy, it doesn’t much matter who the American ambassador to Belgium is. For that reason, Brussels and a great many other capitals get presidential cronies rather than real diplomats as ambassadors from the US. One such is Sam Fox, who was appointed American ambassador without Senate approval, which he wasn’t going to get. Mr. Bush used the power of the recess appointment to give his buddy the job. Or perhaps the verb is “abused.”

According to the US constitution, a great many presidential appointments require approval by the Senate. However, that document also says, “[t]he President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.” (Article 2, Section 2, Clause 3). So, there is no doubt at all that the appointment of Mr. Fox is constitutionally and legally valid until the end of this Congress 21 months from now.

Just because the president has the power, though, doesn’t mean it is right for him to use it in this case. This power stems from a time when the Senate convened less frequently. For example, it rarely met in August (Washington without air conditioning that time of year is only slightly cooler than Hell), so an appointment made in June might not receive a vote until October, hardly an example of good government. In this case, Mr. Bush had originally nominated Mr. Fox for this job, but opposition from Senate Democrats made it pretty obvious that the nomination wasn’t going to get the votes for approval. The reason was his $50,000 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who spent the money and that of a great many others questioning the service record and patriotism of Senator John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election. It was political revenge pure and simple, something the Bush White House understands perfectly well (ask Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson).

Mr. Bush has pulled this sort of nonsense before. MSNBC reports, “Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. The president’s earlier nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government's retirement program, was rejected by Senate Democrats in February.” In both cases, the president effectively thwarted the will of the Senate.

In some quarters, that is grounds for a standing ovation. However, one must consider the effects of this sort of maneuver on the Republic. If this is taken to its logical extreme, the president need not make a single appointment until Congress takes its first recess of its term. Then, he could appoint the entire cabinet, all the ambassadors, and fill every vacant judicial seat. When these expire at the end of the Congress, the process merely repeats. For a few months, there won’t be any senior government officials, but to prevent the legislature having any influence, it might be worthwhile to a president dedicated to enhancing his own power. One wonders what the founders of the Republic would say, after they had finished screaming in horror of course.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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