WASHINGTON (July 25) - Frustrated by Senate Democrats, the White House hinted Monday that President Bush may act soon to sidestep Congress and install embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on a temporary basis.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush has used his power for temporary appointments when "he has to get people in place that have waited far too long to get about doing their business.'' He said that "sometimes there's come a point'' when Bush has decided he needs to act.
Bolton's nomination has been stalled for months. Critics say Bolton, who has been accused of mistreating subordinates and who has been openly skeptical about the U.N., would hurt U.S. efforts to work with other countries on global matters. The administration says the tough-talking Bolton is ideally suited to lead an effort to overhaul the U.N. bureaucracy and make it more accountable.
Bush could put Bolton on the job by exercising his authority to make a recess appointment, an avenue available to the president when Congress is in recess. Lawmakers are expected to leave Friday for a summer recess and not return until Sept. 7.
Under the Constitution, the appointment would last until the end of the next session of Congress - no later than January 2007.
Republicans have twice attempted - and failed - to break a Democratic filibuster against Bolton's nomination. The White House has ruled out withdrawing Bolton's name, and has called repeatedly for a vote on his nomination.
Looks like the White House is going to sneak Bolton into the Unite Nations. It actually doesn't surprise me, considering that Congress would become busy with the John Roberts Show, and the Valerie Plamegate scandal. There is no way Bolton can be confirmed, and if Bush does simply place Bolton into the U.N., the Republicans can hope to gain five more seats in the Senate during the 2006 midterm elections to break the filibuster, and place Bolton there permanently. And if the Republicans cannot gain enough seats during the elections to break the filibuster, then Bolton is finished. It is a high-stakes gamble based on the hope that the Republicans can gain more seats in the Senate, even when they're confronting problems with the economy, job stagnation, the war in Iraq, and the president's falling poll numbers.
4 comments:
This doesn't bother me too much, to be honest. The Democrats didn't cave, and Mr. Political Capital is now forced to resort to the recess loophole yet again, which to me looks more like an admission of weakness than a show of strength.
And as for Bolton himself, I think he's going to be more of an embarrassing loose cannon for Bush than a thorn in the side of the Democrats - and unlike with Iraq, they have no complicity at all, not even the tortured and imaginary kind.
You're right that Bolton's going to be an embarrassment to the U.S. in the United Nations. Of course at this point, Bush doesn't care. His political capital has certainly been wiped out with the Social Security non-issue, the Karl Rove / Plamegate, falling poll numbers and the increasing problems with Iraq. Couple the fact that the Democrats in the Senate are starting to ask for John Roberts' papers and memos from his work as solicitor general, and Bush really needs some type of victory to to salvage his sinking presidency. My concern is if the Republicans are able to increase their margin in the Senate to 60 votes, that would be enough to nullify the filibuster. Because not only would the Republicans be able to stop the filibuster on Bolton, but they could also nullify any Democratic filibuster on future Supreme Court justices--say if Rehnquist dies in office?
In theory, there's no way the Republicans should pick up seats (or even break even) with Bush having a second term this disastrous... but they shouldn't have picked up five seats in 2002 either.
My fear is that the Gang Of 14 has effectively done away with the judicial filibuster anyway.
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