Bush may indeed still try a recess appointment says this:

[caligirl]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
"UPDATE II: Oddly, the Drudge Report, for a period of no more than several minutes, apparently "reported" that the Bush administration would replace Gonzales via recess appointment, but has now taken that down. Identically, the publication most closely associated with Drudge, The Politico, briefly had a caption on its front page indicating the same thing, though nothing in its Gonzales article mentioned that. When I just went to the Politico site to screen capture the recess appointment reference, it, too, had been removed.

The Politico does have an article by the always-plugged-into-the-Bush-administration Mike Allen which signals the potential administration strategy here:

The acting attorney general with be Solicitor General Paul Clement. He "can stay in that position for quite a while," a senior administration official said.

That would avoid a bruising confirmation fight. Some Democratic senators have vowed not to confirm a Gonzales successor. . . .

An administration official explained: An individual may serve in an acting capacity for 210 days. However, if there is a pending nominee, the 210 day "clock" starts again when a nominee is announced. The 210 day "clock" would restart again if the nominee is voted down. The clock stops when there's a nominee, and restarts with a new 210 days if the nomination is withdrawn or fails.

Engaging in that tactic would be tantamount to a recess appointment -- allowing Bush to have an Attorney General in place more or less indefinitely without Senate confirmation. One would hope, though not necessarily expect, that Harry Reid and company would treat that as the serious violation of their agreement that it would be and respond with full retaliation."From Glenn Greenwald at Salon.

[wake.up.america]

1. Since when does Bush keep a promise? Since when does Nancy or Harry do anything about it?

[onenote]

2. he may try a recess appointment, but not the way you suggest

A more likely scenario is that chimpy nominates someone like Cherthoff and the nomination bogs down. At that point, if Congress adjourns in November or December without having confirmed a new AG, chimpy may decide to make a recess appointment. As I understand it, the "deal" that Reid cut was for the August recess, not anything else.

Also, it appears, although this is far from certain, that Clement may not be able to serve as acting AG and also be a nominee for the position. This appears to depend on what provision of the law governs his temporary appointment.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. clement will be there for 18 months.

no reason to fill it. and that is worse for us than chertoff, Hatch, or others.

[onenote]

7. he can only be there for 18 months if someone gets nominated

and the nomination stalls out or fails multiple times. Also. its not clear that Clement can be nominated.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. no one will be nominated

why should bush do that? why should he act at all? The temporary, 3d in command will remain the top dog for as long as necessary.

[onenote]

9. have you actually read the law? Apparently not. Someone will be nominated

The Federal Vacancies REform Act? It sets a 210 day limit on how long someone can serve in an acting capacity unless someone is nominated for the full-time position.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. nominated, withdrawn, nominated, refuses to serve, nominated

for long enough that no one actually goes before the senate

[onenote]

13. wait. I thought you said no one would be nominated.

Now its going to be nomination, withdrawal, nomination, withdrawal for 18 months during a presidential election? Not going to happen.

In any event, if he wanted Clement to have the permanent position, he'd just nominate him. He'll sail through. He was confirmed as SG on a voice vote and even Russ Feingold spoke favorably on his behalf.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. do you REALLY think that some executive signing statement won't

fix what ever irks the president? After all, we are at war, and they have yet to follow the laws passed by congress previously.

[onenote]

12. let's see how it plays out. I"m fairly certain it won't be the way you are suggesting

but if I'm wrong, I'll start a thread acknowledging it.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

14. by the way, how long have

three seats (to be nominated by the pres) in the consumer protection commission dooohickie been vacant, a year, two, three?
Does that give you a hint of how Bush will treat this situation?

[orleans]

3. yeah, sure. so what's harry gonna do about it? n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. cave in like a mine in Utah.

like he always does.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. he will NOT choose chertoff

or anyone else. Clement is perfect for him. A neocon, loyal, and already in office without a hearing.