Oh, the hypocrisy - Democratic Underground

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Mon Aug-01-05 11:07 AM
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Oh, the hypocrisy

What Does Orrin Hatch Have to Say About Recess Appointments?

FROM THE CNN ARCHIVES (1997):

"If a recess appointment, then I have to say, it's a finger in the eye of the Senate," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told FOX on Sunday. "I think you'd find there would be an awful lot of repercussions from that."

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/12/14/lee/

from BuzzFlash.com

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When Will Clinton
Be Held Accountable?

"It's a slap in the face of Catholics everywhere," said Sen. Trent Lott, in response to President Clinton's recess appointment of the openly gay James C. Hormel as Ambassador to Luxembourg.
http://www.populist.com/99.7.walker.html

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Some Republican Senators have complained that President Clinton failed to adhere to this policy in December of 1999 by reappointing Sarah Fox to the National labor Relations Board even though her name had not been included on a list of potential recess appointees. In response, Senators Inhofe (R-OK) and Craig (R-ID) have threatened to block all future judicial nominations made by Clinton this year.
http://www.thisnation.com/question/010.html

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Questioning the Constitutionality of Recess Appointments to the Federal Judiciary
Howard J. Bashman, Mon Mar 12, 2001

On December 27, 2000, William Jefferson Clinton became the first President in two decades to use the power available under Article II of the U.S. Constitution to make a recess appointment to the federal judiciary. President Clinton's recess appointment of Roger Gregory to fill a longstanding judicial vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit proved newsworthy because Gregory became the first African-American judge on that court. The Fourth Circuit, which consists of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, has the largest African-American population of any circuit in the nation.

Although President Clinton's last-minute pardons have generated a great deal of controversy, his decision to make a recess appointment to the federal judiciary in his last month in office may rekindle the debate over the constitutionality of that practice. For the reasons that follow, I have concluded that recess appointments to the federal judiciary are unconstitutional. Recess appointees therefore should not be permitted to exercise the judicial power of the United States conferred under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.>snip<

>Once the controversy over President Clinton's last-minute pardons subsides, the battle over the constitutionality of federal judicial recess appointments is ready to begin anew.
http://www.bipc.com/news.cfm?mode=article&article_id=492&practice_id=56

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When President Clinton used recess appointments to fill vacant slots in important positions, there was an outcry from Senate Republicans who claimed that recess appointments were an "affront" to the Constitution and "subverted" the confirmation process.

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott

>Then Senate Majority Leader Lott condemned the recess appointment of James Hormel as Ambassador to Luxemborg as a "subversion of the confirmation process." (June 9, 1999, The Washington Post)

Minority Whip Don Nickles

>"It's unfortunate, and, again, he's really defying the Constitution . . . There's a reason why you have advise and consent. There's a reason why you have confirmation." (December 31, 2000, UPI)

>"If he really sticks his finger in the eye of the Senate as far as the confirmation process, he may not get another person confirmed . . . We don't have to confirm anybody next year." (November 5, 1999, The Washington Times)

Senator James Inhofe

>"President Clinton has shown contempt for Congress and the Constitution . . . He has treated the Senate confirmation process as little more than a nuisance which he can circumvent whenever he wants to impose his will on the country." (June 10, 1999, Roll Call)

>" I will place a `hold' on every judicial nominee that reaches the Senate calendar for the remainder of the Clinton presidency." (December 22, 1999, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Senator Mitch McConnell

>"This would be a declaration of war halfway through the 105th Congress . . . If he tries, it will cost him. It could be appointments. It could be legislative cooperation. The opportunities are wide open for any fertile mind to contemplate." (December 9, 1997, The Washington Times)

Senator Bob Smith

>"I view this as the president saying, In your face, Senate; you can have your `advise and consent.'" (June 5, 1999, The Los Angeles Times)

>"Clinton's decision to nominate Mr. Hormel while we are in recess is an affront to the Senate and to the Constitution." (June 7, 1999, The Hotline)
http://www.hypocrites.com/article2826.html

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If I don't laugh, I'll :nuke:

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