Diane raises a good question: How does this fit into the system of checks and balances? The president is a sneak. We all saw how well his recess appointment of John Bolton went over on the world stage. This is Bush giving the proverbial bird to Congress.
In a move that should disgust all and surprise nobody, the White House announced today that George W. Bush will recess-appoint Sam Fox, who gave $50,000 to the Swift Boat Liars to help finance their 2004 smear of John Kerry, to be the new U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.
The nomination was withdrawn last week, when it became clear to Bush that Fox, who was instrumental in derailing Kerry's presidential bid, did not have enough votes in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be confirmed.
A recess appointment allows a president to fill vacancies while the Congress is on a break, even if the nominee has already been expressly or implicitly rejected by the Senate.
The announcement on the White House web site was buried in a flurry of other activity and said simply this:
The President intends to recess appoint the following individuals:
Sam Fox, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Belgium
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