Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

April 06, 2007

On Sam Fox, Recess Appointments, and Democrat Whining

John Kerry must be fuming. Angry that Sam Fox, President Bush's nominee for ambassador to Belgium donated $50,000 to the group that helped orchestrate his defeat in the 2004 election (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth), Kerry did his level best to scuttle the nomination in committee. Bush ended up withdrawing the nomination, only to install Fox in a recess appointment.

Now the Dems cry foul, saying Bush's appointment was made illegally because he withdrew the nomination. This might help clarify that charge:

The President is not required to nominate the recess appointee to the appointed position. The President will sometimes use a recess appointment to fill a position while a different nominee to the same position is going through the confirmation process in the Senate. Under certain conditions, however, a provision of law may prevent a recess appointee from being paid from the Treasury if he or she has not been nominated to the position.

Fox is taking the appointment on an unpaid basis.

A bit of history on recess appointments: Up until the 1930s, Congress did not meet during the hot Washington DC summers. Recess appointments were a way to keep the cogs of government running smoothly, so that positions were not left empty while Congress was not in session. However, presidents have used the recess appointment authority to get their choices in when it looked like they might not get approved. One recent, high-profile example was GWB's appointment of John Bolton as UN ambassador at the end of 2005. He served only one year, as the Senate refused to confirm him when the recess appointment expired.

As for Bush wanting a pal in an ambassadorial position, well, that's what happens in politics. It's common practice for the president to give these cushy positions to friends and supporters, and Bush is by no means the first. And, he's certainly not the first president to give an ambassadorship to someone who is disliked by political oponents.

Here's a relatively recent example: In 1999, Bill Clinton used his recess appointment power to install Jim Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg. Hormel was a big supporter of Clinton in 1992, and gave a total of $125,000 to Clinton's re-election campaign and the Democrats in general in 1996. Clinton wanted to reward him. But objections by some Senate Republicans about Hormel's homosexuality and activist agenda meant that the nomination might not go smoothly, so Clinton slipped him in during a Congressional recess.

I'm sure there are countless other examples throughout our history.

John Kerry wanted to punish Fox for supporting SBVT. Now he's been thwarted, and he and his compatriots are crying over spilled milk. But aren't there bigger fish to fry these days? These energies might be better extended over the issues surrounding troop funding, not an ambassadorial appointment to a country about the size of Maryland.