Recess appointment requires a recess, no?

[KnaveRupe]

Could the impending recess appointment of Bolton be blocked by somehow blocking the adjournment of the Senate for the July 4th recess?

http://www.c-span.org/questions/week100.asp

"In the Senate, the Chair has no inherent authority to declare recesses. Recesses are accomplished only (1) by the full body giving unanimous consent to hold recesses "subject to the call of the Chair," or (2) by adopting a motion to recess, offered by any Senator from the floor."

Easy enough to block unanimous consent, but could the Dems (if so inclined) block the motion to recess? Can such a motion be filibustered?

Or has the unanimous consent already been given to allow ther chair to call the recess, and is this notion already a dead-end?

Parliamentarians? Weigh in!

[Ravenseye]

1. Ah To Be Mr. Smith

Imagine if they decided to just energizer bunny the senate. Non stop, day and night, taking shifts, until January 2009...Now that'd be something to see. They'll never do it though, because the Senators care more about their reelections than doing what's right, and they'd be afraid that doing something like that would make them look *gasp* like an obstructionist.

[KnaveRupe]

2. Obstructionism?

How could refusing to take a recess until the White House ponies up the documents be seen as "obstructionism"?

Seems to me it could be spun as just the opposite - make the Republicans look like the obstructionists.

It's the kind of political judo we need to be using all the freaking time.

edited for typos

[Donald Ian Rankin]

3. Yes, but

Think about what would happen if the senators didn't care about reelection. At least now there are enough Democrats in the Senate to stop some of the worst legislation, and there's a posibility of more in 2006 or 2008. Making a single grand gesture that achieves nothing but delay and leaves the Republicans in power for a decade would be not merely foolish, but also immoral.

Thinking about reelection *is* doing what's right.

[Idioteque]

4. I believe that a motion to recess is followed by an immediate vote...

If there is no debate time, it can't be filibustered.