Have any other Presidents appointed while ...

[mknmehappy]

Is Bush the first President in modern times to appoint positions while the Senate was in recess?

[truebrit71]

1. No. President Clinton made a recess appointment to the 4th Circuit.

....

[JimmyJazz]

2. Clinton made 140 when he was president, but none so

controversial and none in such a high position. I believe Poppy appointed 104 or so.

[zbdent]

3. If I find the link, I'll post it later

Bush I - 77
Reagan - 240 or so

[JimmyJazz]

4. It's cool. The issue is not that he made the appointment, but

that it was after a heated battle we aren't talking about a circuit judge appointment. If you find a link that breaks down the positions as well as the raw numbers, I would be interested. Thanks.

[Garbo 2004]

5. AP article on recess appointments:

Presidents since George Washington have made appointments during congressional recesses to fill positions in the executive and judicial branches. Under the Constitution, the president can make temporary appointments while the Senate is in recess, without Senate approval. The appointment lasts through the end of the following one-year session of Congress.

...President Bush: 106 recess appointments, including Bolton, mostly to minor posts...

...President Clinton: 140 recess appointments over two terms...

...The first President Bush made 77 recess appointments over one term, and President Reagan made 243 over two terms...

Full article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/01/national/w061234D45.DTL

[mknmehappy]

9. Thank you.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

6. Have you abandoned the thread?

:shrug:

[theboss]

7. No, it's very common...though the profile of this is different

All presidents do it, but it's rarely done to make an ideological point in such a high profile position.

[davsand]

8. An excellent short article on the subject of recess appointments:

http://www.c-span.org/questions/week156.asp

DO read the entire thing, but this paragraph answers the original question:

"All modern Presidents have made recess appointments both during the shorter breaks within a session of Congress as well as during the longer recess between the two sessions. Senate leaders have frequently complained about the appointments made during short intra-session recesses. Some have threatened to litigate the matter to the Supreme Court, but none have yet done that. A federal appeals court did rule in 1962 that the President had broad authority to make recess appointment decisions . "


I want to say that Warren (former SCOTUS CJ) was a recess appointment, but I'm not certain where that little tidbit comes from...


Laura

[newyawker99]

10. Hi mknmehappy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: