Resisting, Finally

28 December 2007



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Senate Holds Pro Forma Sessions

On Wednesday, Virginia’s Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat, marched into the Senate chamber. He banged the gavel to open the session for the day. Eleven seconds later, according to CNN, he closed the session. He wasn’t on the floor for even a full minute. He’ll do the same thing today. It’s a silly ritual, but it will prevent President Bush from making any recess appointments.

One of the flaws in the American constitution is a provision under which a presidential appointee can skip confirmation by the Senate if the Senate isn’t in session when the appointment is made. The Busheviks have used this loophole to put all sorts of unqualified or dangerous people in office without due scrutiny. John Bolton’s UN ambassadorship is the most obvious example. Thanks to this constitutional flaw, he sat on the Security Council until the 109th Congress went out of business last December.

With the Republican Party in charge back then, there was very little hope of any supervision. Now, that the Democrats have a majority, Congress has some will as well as some muscle to flex. However, they have not been confrontational about it. They have been in discussions with the White House on letting Mr. Bush make dozens of recess appointments so long as Steven Bradbury, the acting chief of the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Counsel, didn’t lose the word “acting” in his title. The Democrats don’t like him because he signed a pair of secret memos in 2005 authorizing interrogation techniques that amount to torture.

As usual, the White House was unwilling to compromise. White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said last week, “We think it’s unfortunate that the Senate hasn’t been able to complete its important work on confirming people to serve in critical positions throughout the federal government.” More unfortunate is the fact that the president won’t appoint people who can stand up the to scrutiny of confirmation hearings.

So, Senator Webb will hold a pro forma meeting today. Later in the vacation (not technically a recess), he’ll pass the chore on to Senators Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Chuck Schumer of New York. Democracy at its most farcical.

© 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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