Senate Stays in Session to Block Recess Appointments
So what…..like the article states, Harry made a deal with Bush this summer to get Mukasey through. The deals have been cut…….and it does’t matter what we want anyway. When is Harry gonna wake up and smell the coffee? Bush’s word means NADA. Oh and by the way Harry….. the rest of the world gets 2 days off for Thankgiving. Congress gets two weeks. How nice for you. (Dogs woke me too early this morning and the coffee hasn’t kicked in. Perhaps I should wait til later to post. ha!)
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), in a showdown with the White House over executive branch nominations, refused yesterday to formally adjourn the chamber for a planned two-week Thanksgiving break in order to thwart President Bush’s ability to make recess appointments.
Rather than allowing the Senate to take a full break, Reid employed a rarely used parliamentary tactic by scheduling “pro forma” sessions twice a week until early December, when Congress returns for three weeks of work. Under that plan, a few senators, perhaps just one Democrat and one Republican, will briefly open the chamber for debate during the next two weeks.
The move blocks Bush’s ability to make recess appointments, which would allow his choices to serve out the remainder of Bush’s term.
Reid accused Bush of slow-walking Democratic nominees for bipartisan oversight agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission. Reid said he had made good on a summertime promise to move several key Bush nominees, including new Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, but Bush has not officially nominated some Democratic selections for the bipartisan commissions.
Full article at the Washington Post
