A Recess Appointment That Makes Sense

[marmar]

from truthdig:



A Recess Appointment That Makes Sense
Posted on Dec 30, 2010

By Ruth Marcus


I gave President Obama some grief last summer for bypassing the Senate and making a precipitous recess appointment for Donald Berwick, his choice to oversee the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

I have a completely different take on the president’s latest such move, to issue a recess appointment for James Cole to serve as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 position at the Justice Department.

This time around, the maneuver was justified.

My assessment has nothing to do with the individuals or positions involved, everything to do with the differences in process. Berwick had been nominated a mere three months before the president chose to appoint him while the Senate was not in session. He had not yet had a committee hearing. His Senate vetting was not complete.

By contrast, Cole was nominated in May. His confirmation hearing took place in June. The next month, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted—albeit along party lines—to approve the nomination and send it to the Senate floor. There it languished until the recess appointment, part of a batch issued by the president this week. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_recess_appointment_that_makes_sense_20101230/

[Drew Richards]

1. recess appointments

And yet...he can't seem to find his way to recess appoint Elizabeth Warren...