Posted on 12/20/2019 5:26:10 PM PST by Rebelbase
Ronald Reagan made nearly 250 recess appointments during his time in office. Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush made dozens each. George W. Bush made 171, and Barack Obama notched 32.
President Trump, meanwhile, stands at a big zero.
No other president has gone this deep into an administration without making a recess appointment. In fact, he is poised to become the first president never to get one — save William Henry Harrison, who died just one month into office.
Recess appointments are one of the more arcane presidential powers, but analysts said the breakdown of the process is emblematic of a broken Washington.
“It’s a very important presidential power,” said Hans von Spakovsky, a legal scholar at the conservative Heritage Foundation who was the recipient of a recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission in 2006.
“The whole point of that authority was to be able to temporarily fill important positions in the government. If anything, that’s gotten even more important since our founding because of the huge increase of the size of the federal government, and it’s not a good thing to have all these empty slots.”
It has been nearly 2,900 days since the last recess appointment, dating back seven years to the Obama administration. That is by far the longest stretch in history, according to an analysis by The Washington Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
McConnell needs to lose his seat for this.
They haven’t. I just checked Senate.gov today. They even have items on their agenda for December 23.
GOP leaves DC to celebrate Christmas in their mansions but doesn’t officially go on recess. Another reason I’m glad I quit the Republican Party. F-ing a-holes.
Well to be fair, let’s look at the cock ups that President Trump has made with his own administration. Many if not most of his appointees in the Executive Branch have been failures. So maybe Congress feels they have good reasons to avoid his recess appointments.
What power do you think that gives him?
Sounds to me like this is a GOOD way to shrink the federal government (at least temporarily). I'm very disappointed to hear a legal scholar at the Heritage Foundation say it is not a good thing to fill these empty positions -- as if we needed MORE government in our lives.
The article headline makes it look like this is some kind of Trump accomplishment. Mitch and the boys have made damn sure Trump gets no recess appointments. All of the appointments have had to get past the GOPe politburo which is why we end with hacks like Wray
It almost seemed he looked at these positions like a continuation of The Apprentice. Might work in business but here the potential for great damage is too great. Of course he had no portfolios of experienced applicants to choose from and his dealings with govt while extensive were with gaming commissions, zoning boards, community planning districts, not the kind of background a POTUS usually has. Even his overseas ventures brought him into limited contact with national govt. All in all his successes can be chalkedvup more to his audacity and determination than to his appointments, save of course the federal judiciary.
Sure it did. It gave a very clear roadmap -- where none had previously existed -- as to how the Senate could prevent recess appointments. The Senate has followed that to the letter, and there hasn't been a recess appointment since.
Why would Mitch block recess appointments? He seems like a team player, especially lately.
Mr. Elaine Chao has not recessed the Senate precisely in order to keep Trump from naming anyone not under corrupt control into keep positions, such as at the FBI and DoJ.
46. You need good conservative leaders in key decision-making positions in agencies riddled by Democrat obstructionists and Deep State agents. Get them in ASAP and let them clean house, drain Their Swamp, and promulgate only needed rules and regulations that are good for AMerica.
Yea, he is a team player all right, GOP establishment.
If we are doing the job with out that role filled then he is saving us money.
I believe the President is just short of friends, or at least people he trusts.
Think about it ... as a Manhattan businessman, Trump probably has more opponents, competitors, and enemies ... not to mention public officials and union bosses ... than he has trusted friends. I’m sure he knows a reasonable number of honest people, but he does know enough to staff the entire Swamp?
True politicians are surrounded by “friends” and the friends of friends, and all their relatives. And there are millions of “favors” that need to be paid back, so finding an ambassador to Tonga shouldn’t be too difficult.
But if your job was to build hotels, which involves pulling permits, getting the plumbers’ union to show up, hiring cops for traffic details and keeping the mob away from the property, how many “trusted friends” would you have to serve in public office?
Agreed,
You know if
Trump wanted them,
He’d Have Them!
.
The Supreme Court
Is what’s Important!
The Bush League Republicans in the Senate will not recess to block him from doing any recess appointments.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.