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House Votes on Recess, but Is It Enough to Leave Town?
Friday, August 01, 2008

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,395702,00.html

The House of Representatives maybe have voted Wednesday to approve its August adjournment, but now, they have to do it again — and that could be a problem for House Democrats.

Republicans threatened to hold the House in session over the August break since Democrats never allowed them to have a vote on offshore drilling. And the adjournment resolution passed Wednesday by only one vote, with 17 Democrats voting with Republicans.

But the rub is that Senate hasn’t passed its adjournment resolution yet, and the Constitution requires the House and Senate “agree” on what they’re going to do when lawmakers leave for any extended period of time.

Lately, the Senate has not been adjourning, only meeting every couple of days. That prevents President Bush from making “recess appointments” of controversial judicial nominees the Senate wouldn’t otherwise confirm. The President can bypass the Senate when it adjourns for longer time periods, such as the August recess.

The House wrote its adjournment resolution in a way that might not synch up with the Senate. So, the House may have to take a mulligan on the previous vote to adjourn and agree to meet every couple days — for only a few minutes usually — as the Senate will do for the month of August.

The vote in the House again could be close. But a senior House source tells FOX News that the Democrats have the votes to get out of town.