President Obama has taken advantage of the current recess to make several appointments without need for Senate approval. Here is the New York Times reporting on the story:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fed up with waiting, President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs, wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess appointment.
It’s instructive to note the reaction of the New York Times when President Bush took a similar action just a few years ago:
It is disturbing that President Bush has exhibited a grandiose vision of executive power that leaves little room for public debate, the concerns of the minority party or the supervisory powers of the courts. But it is just plain baffling to watch him take the same regal attitude toward a Congress in which his party holds solid majorities in both houses.
Seizing the opportunity presented by the Congressional holiday break, Mr. Bush announced 17 recess appointments — a constitutional gimmick that allows a president to appoint someone when Congress is in recess to a job that normally requires Senate approval. The appointee serves until the next round of Congressional elections. [emphasis added]
Now, reasonable people can agree that both parties have used this procedure. However, this appears to be another example of a mainstream media outlet taking sides based on the source.
