Niccolo Machiavelli once wrote that if you plan to do a number of bad things, do them all at once so that the public remembers them as more or less one thing. In the modern press era that’s even better advice, because unless it becomes a consuming scandal you have basically one big unfavorable story rather than umpteen separate stories carrying through umpteen different news cycles. The public perceives the first as an outlier, the second as a trend.
Why do I bring that up? Last night Bush took it upon himself to make seventeen recess appointments all at once, including some who embarrass even Michelle Malkin:
Oh, give me a ^*&%$# break and a half! This nomination is a monumental political and policy blunder in the wake of the Michael Brown/FEMA fiasco. And I can tell you that contrary to the Miss Mary Sunshine White House spokeswoman’s comments, rank-and-file DHS employees and immigration enforcement officials are absolutely livid about [Julie] Myers’ nomination.
I’m not familiar with most of the names on the list, but keep in mind that these are people that Bush couldn’t even get past a Senate dominated by his own party. Several of them haven’t even had confirmation hearings.
File this under, ‘things that would cause mass hysteria if done by a Democrat.’ ‘things that happen with some regularity under presidents of both parties’ (via a commenter). I remain curious how often they’re necessary given a friendly Senate.
Read the list here.
***Update***
More atrocities listed.
Otto Man
Good point. I can’t believe he went ahead with the Myers appointment even after the Brownie disaster. (The Brownie Disaster, by the way, is the name of my new band.)
Hey, it’s not like we need anyone competent or experienced in charge of our immigration and border security. That’ll never come back to bite us. Nope.
Ozymandius
Oh give me a break. Confirmation hearings are so pre-9/11.
ppGaz
Nominated for Best Line of 2006.
Al Maviva
Julie Miers is a hideously bad pick, but not shocking considering the way the second term appointments, at least to the sub-cabinet positions, appear to be treated as gravy train handouts for a lot of Bush supporters. Among the supporters are many talented and sharp people. Also among them is much Southwestern riff-raff from the outer circle of Texas/Ok Bush supporters, the campaign volunteer staff, and a lot of second and third tier talent who waved the bush flag and bided their time during the first term.
It’s pathetic. The only saving grace is that most career staff in management positions at most agencies know their shit, and at a sub-cabinet agency like ICE, there are very few political appointees. In other words, if Miers is smart, she will be able to delegate much, make some policy decisions, and focus on finding smart career people to run the day-to-day operations. Otherwise the appointment has huge potential for disaster, especially considering the role that ICE plays in counterterrorism operations these days, similar to the role the IRS played in mob prosecutions.
Steve
I know Clinton made a lot of recess appointments, as did other Presidents throughout history, so I’d actually be interested to see how this measures up comparatively before I muster all that outrage. I have to believe that if there’s a legitimate “Clinton did it too” argument to be made, or even an illegitimate one, fifty right-wing blogs will have made it before I finish typing this sentence. Or one of them will make the argument and the other 49 will all link to them, and link to each other’s links.
neil
Interestingly, of the three new FEC commissioners who are on that list, who apparently never had hearings, two are Democrats (or at least, Kerry donors). Could it be that the GOP Senate refused to hold hearings on them?
Everybody else on that list except for two people have donated tens of thousands to the GOP in the last few years, for what it’s worth.
neil
Steve, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment:
Ronald Reagan made 243 recess appointments during his two terms in office; George H. W. Bush made 77 during his single term. Clinton made 140 recess appointments over two terms. As of 1 August 2005, Bush has made 106 recess appointments.
DCleviathan
So in the wake of this warrentless surveillance scandal, torture, rendition, etc., Bush just bypassed the Senate to appoint the top lawyer for all U.S. intelligence agencies….wow.
ubernerd83
Goldsmith was Mayor of Indianapolis when I was in middle school. Thus, I don’t remember much about him either. I believe he also ran for governor at one point.
Jorge
In December, 2 weeks after Robert Leinhard’s wife provided the testimony that kept Rove from being indicted or at least complicated the investigation, Bush nominated Leinhard to the FEC.
But hey, at least we know the POTUS always makes sure to pay back a solid.
Jorge
I see Leinhard was appointed in this list. Lovely.
neil
Leinhard, as well as a few other members, are being re-recess-appointed.
Paul Wartenberg
Constitutional Amendment idea I’ve posted over in Charging RINO weblog:
An amendment that all non-elected offices that require nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate also require that the person have 5 years experience directly related to the duties of that office, or at least a college degree from an accredited program that relates directly to the duties of that office if the job is deemed entry-level.
The second part of the amendment would assure that even recess or temporary nominees to that office fulfil those requirements.
It won’t get rid of the shady characters but it should get rid of the unqualified and the incompetent.
Geoff
I disagree strongly with the characterization of this as something “that happen with some regularity under presidents of both parties.” There is a vast difference between recess appointments, which certainly do happen under both parties, and mass recess appointments of unqualified cronies in critical areas like emergency management (cough Sauerbrey cough) or, for heaven’s sake, homeland security (cough Julie Myers cough), which are distinctly a recent phenomenon. Tim, I motion for an updated update.
Steve
Just to be bipartisan, I note that whenever someone mentions appointing unqualified cronies to homeland security positions, I think of Jim McGreevey. Of course, he had the good sense to resign in disgrace once the news got out. Bush, on the other hand, seems to respond to a mistake by resolving to make the same mistake 10 more times, just to prove that it wasn’t really a mistake at all.
Pooh
The egregiously named Hans von Spakovski, to the FEC. This is a bad dude, the Florida voter purges of 2000 were egregious – “You have three letters in common with a felon, you must be him. NO VOTE FOR YOU!”
But with a name like that, how could you not be a twirly mustache type?
This is the kind of stuff that makes me put forth a qualified defense of judicial filibustering (which I hate).
Pooh
And Al, I’m less samguine than you about the political appointees ability to stay out of the career folks way (see, e.g. Texas/Georgia VRA incidents)
Jorge
From what I read on the internet*, George Bush is being blackmailed by a gay lover he appointed to a high government position. He will more than likely be resigning soon.
*Steve’s post.
The Other Steve
ACtually I believe you can file this under… It was wrong when Clinton did it, but now it’s ok.
Like renting out the Lincoln bedroom, firing white house staff, etc.
Kirk Spencer
Idle speculation here. One question that always seems to go wanting when appointing recess appointments is, “Why does this have to happen now, that it can’t wait another three months or so?” This is especially true when being appointed to very high positions, as are two or three upon that list. Obviously if the person’s been waiting for, say, a year or so the answer might be “because we’re tired of being stalled.” But still…
I’ve a particular candidate in mind when pondering that. The appointed Deputy Secretary of Defense, Mr. Gordon England, was nominated in April. He’d come from being Secretary of the Navy (approved by Congress) after serving as the first Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (approved), to which he’d come from being Secretary of the Navy (approved, and yes he did it twice). But his Deputy SecDef nomination stalled.
It may be a case of “tired of stalling”, but I’ve another idea that meets the “why now” criteria. Secretary Rumsfeld has been serving a long time – he’s now one of the longest serving SecDef’s in our history, serving in a position that’s historically very stressful. Setting aside any opinion of his performance, he may be reaching a stage of burnout and wanting to bow out gracefully. His deputy is going to sit in the hotseat till a replacement is approved. And any replacement of that seat is going be politically hot as Democrats (and some Republicans) use the opportunity to publicly evaluate the performance of the Secretary and his department. The hearings could go on internimably. Thus it’s necessary to have someone in place to handle the day-to-day affairs of the department in time of war, and thus the need to appoint.
Again, idle speculation. But with, I think, some validity. And it brings the question to the table of why now for some of the others – what other issues might be on or coming to the table that need the spot filled now?
The Disenfranchised Voter
It is almost sickening how bad the recess appointment clause has been abused in modern times. Bolton’s appointment was a flagrant abuse of the recess appointment clause and so are any of these latest appointments, unless the vacancies actually occured during the recess.
ANY recess appointment that is done to subvert the authority of Senate is against the Constitution and is complete bullshit.
I don’t care who does it or what party that person belongs to. Recess appointments were intended for EMERGENCY appointments when Congress is not in session–not to stop the Senate from doing it’s fucking job.
I’m sick of these politicians shitting on our Constitution.
Here is the recess appointment clause:
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Read the first sentence carefully…”The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate.”
The clause is clearly refering to vacancies that happen during the recess.
The clause was intended for emergency type circumstances; such as a vacancy when the Senate is on recess and it is urgent that the position be filled.
It was not intended to be used–abused in fact–the way it has been by both the Democrats and Republicans.
They have both abused their power.
I really wish someone would put a stop to this shit.
Dodd
I don’t disagree that the recess appointment power has been overused by politicians of both parties for a long time now (though I’d express that sentiment less vulgarly). But the “may happen during the Recess of the Senate” language has been long interpreted to be understood that any Vacancy that exists during such a Recess “happens” during it.
Cyrus
Sort of strange, really. These people are mediocre not infamous (at least, as far as we can tell at this stage), and if Bush reeeally wanted to get them through, his majority in the Senate hasn’t changed. And with everything else going on, these guys, while obviously sub-optimal, are a drop in the bucket of Bush SNAFUs. So why bother with recess appointments at all? They’re probably getting as much if not more attention like this than they would have if they had gone through the Senate.
Random thought: if these had not been recess appointments, Senators would have been reduced to giving actual job interviews, and they would have taken it as an insult and a waste of time. Checking out the nominee’s political astuteness is one thing; checking for a criminal record and making sure their résumé isn’t fabricated is another matter.
tzs
Great, so they get appointed and THEN we discover the resume is tarted up and all the skeletons in the closet?
How this is Better for Bush than going via the standard route where all the public dissection is front-ended is something I don’t understand.
Unless they think that anything negative can be hidden forever.
an american
Hey, why bother with that pesky Congress at all? Hell, I’m sure Abu Gonzales can write an opinion that as a wartime president Bush can just dissolve the damn thing. Judicial review too. Much easier to manage just one branch of government than three.
The Disenfranchised Voter
By who? The Republicans and the Democrats?
Big freakin deal. Of course they are going to incorrectly interpret it that way. I think the wording of the clause is pretty obvious to anyone who actually reads it. It clearly states that it applies to vacancies that happen DURING the recess.