A recess appointment?
July 10th 2010 01:14
Earlier this week we were informed by the media that President Obama made a Recess Appointment. He named Dr. Donald Berwick as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. So what exactly is a recess appointment and why was it used to name Dr. Berwick?
Generally a recess appointment takes place when the President of the United States wants to fill an available federal position by sidestepping the confirmation process. Usually a political appointment such as this one requires the Senate to hold hearings and confirms the individual and apparently Dr. Berwick has made some questionable comments about rationing healthcare to the young and to the elderly that many members of Congress desired to hear Dr. Berwick’s explanation for such remarks. Because President Obama made this nominee a recess appointment there is no opportunity for members of the Senate to question Dr. Berwick.
According to the White House the appointment was done because Congress was on the 4th o f July recess (ah the reason for the term Recess Appointment). Since congress was only taking a 4 day recess to celebrate the 4th of July many members feel this course of action was not necessary. The authority for recess comes from an interpretation of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, the Senate has the authority to provide "advice and consent" to the President on appointments:
... [The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law...
I would wonder how many days does Congress have to be on Recess in order to make this kind of appointment might be one question that should be answered, another is with the possibility of a lame duck session just a hundred days away was the President concerned that his nominee would not pass? President Obama is not the first to use the recess appointment while congress was on a short break, President Theodore Roosevelt made a recess appointment while the Senate was in recess for only a day.
Understand that any recess appointment that a President makes is temporary positions. If you remember the appointment of John Bolton as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations in 2005. “ President Bush installed John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations yesterday, employing the presidential power to make temporary appointments to break through a wall of Democratic opposition to Bolton's confrontational brand of conservatism.
Frustrated by the refusal of Senate Democrats to permit a final vote on Bolton's nomination, Bush said he resorted to the 17-month recess appointment to circumvent "partisan delaying tactics" in Washington and to send a resounding message that the White House is serious about reforming the United Nations.
The move, ending a grinding five-month battle, drew sharp protests from Democrats and a mixed response from the foreign diplomats Bolton will be working with at U.N. headquarters in New York , (VandeHe & Lynch, 2005) .”
Any recess appointment needs to be confirmed by the Senate after the next election. There are occasions when a Presidents will make recess appointments if they believe that the nominee will face a difficult challenge in hopes that the newly elected Senators will not give the nominee a hard time.
I do not know that much about Dr. Berwick, I will spend some time looking into this individual and seeing if I agree with what he has said or disagree. I do think that recess appointments should be limited though President Obama did nothing illegal here I do think when it comes to such major positions the people have a right to hear what the nominee has to say so that they can form an opinion and voice that opinion to their Senators and Congressmen. That is our right. I was excited when I heard that President Obama wanted his Presidency to be transparent to the people he works to represent. If that is the case they why couldn’t Dr Berwick go through the nomination process and let the people decide.
References:
Really Long Link
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Generally a recess appointment takes place when the President of the United States wants to fill an available federal position by sidestepping the confirmation process. Usually a political appointment such as this one requires the Senate to hold hearings and confirms the individual and apparently Dr. Berwick has made some questionable comments about rationing healthcare to the young and to the elderly that many members of Congress desired to hear Dr. Berwick’s explanation for such remarks. Because President Obama made this nominee a recess appointment there is no opportunity for members of the Senate to question Dr. Berwick.
According to the White House the appointment was done because Congress was on the 4th o f July recess (ah the reason for the term Recess Appointment). Since congress was only taking a 4 day recess to celebrate the 4th of July many members feel this course of action was not necessary. The authority for recess comes from an interpretation of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, the Senate has the authority to provide "advice and consent" to the President on appointments:
... [The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law...
I would wonder how many days does Congress have to be on Recess in order to make this kind of appointment might be one question that should be answered, another is with the possibility of a lame duck session just a hundred days away was the President concerned that his nominee would not pass? President Obama is not the first to use the recess appointment while congress was on a short break, President Theodore Roosevelt made a recess appointment while the Senate was in recess for only a day.
Understand that any recess appointment that a President makes is temporary positions. If you remember the appointment of John Bolton as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations in 2005. “ President Bush installed John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations yesterday, employing the presidential power to make temporary appointments to break through a wall of Democratic opposition to Bolton's confrontational brand of conservatism.
Frustrated by the refusal of Senate Democrats to permit a final vote on Bolton's nomination, Bush said he resorted to the 17-month recess appointment to circumvent "partisan delaying tactics" in Washington and to send a resounding message that the White House is serious about reforming the United Nations.
The move, ending a grinding five-month battle, drew sharp protests from Democrats and a mixed response from the foreign diplomats Bolton will be working with at U.N. headquarters in New York , (VandeHe & Lynch, 2005) .”
Any recess appointment needs to be confirmed by the Senate after the next election. There are occasions when a Presidents will make recess appointments if they believe that the nominee will face a difficult challenge in hopes that the newly elected Senators will not give the nominee a hard time.
I do not know that much about Dr. Berwick, I will spend some time looking into this individual and seeing if I agree with what he has said or disagree. I do think that recess appointments should be limited though President Obama did nothing illegal here I do think when it comes to such major positions the people have a right to hear what the nominee has to say so that they can form an opinion and voice that opinion to their Senators and Congressmen. That is our right. I was excited when I heard that President Obama wanted his Presidency to be transparent to the people he works to represent. If that is the case they why couldn’t Dr Berwick go through the nomination process and let the people decide.
References:
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
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