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Fed up with waiting, President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs, wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess appointment. The move immediately deepened the divide between the Democratic president and Republicans in the Senate following a long, bruising fight over health care. Obama revealed his decision by blistering Republicans, accusing them of holding up nominees for months solely to try to score a political advantage on him. "I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fed up with waiting, President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs, wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess appointment.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday announced his plan to make 15 recess appointments held up by Republican delays, including two Treasury Department positions and two on the National Labor Relations Board that have been vacant for more than a year. Bonds The move was likely to intensify an already bitter partisan atmosphere in Washington. Obama accused Republicans of playing politics by obstructing his nominations, and calculated the appointments had already been held up for an average of 214 days. "I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government," said Obama, a...

President Barack Obama has elected to bypass the Senate and unilaterally install 15 nominees, including the controversial Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, a move sure to infuriate Republicans.

BULLETIN: Obama announces more than a dozen recess appointments, including NRLB nominee Craig Becker. 3 minutes ago via Tweetie Appointments include 5 members of EEOC, senior DHS management offcial, CPB...

President Barack Obama dropped his threat to bypass the Senate and install nominees to their positions through recess appointments — at least for now. Recess appointments can be made while the Senate is out of session and are a way for presidents to get around the need for a confirmation vote. The president said in a statement Thursday evening that he is encouraged by confirmation earlier in the day of 27 high-level nominees. On Tuesday, Obama threatened to make the recess appointments to get around senators who had placed “holds” on his nominees, which prevent, or at least delay, the...

Frustrated with such pesky nuisances as the Constitution, Obama now says he intends to circumvent the entire Senate confirmation process to railroad through 177 radical left-wing nominees--many of whom are opposed by both parties--while Congress is still in recess...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Dawn Johnsen has been on the top of the list of pro-abortion appointees from President Barack Obama that the pro-life movement has opposed. Now, it appears Johnsen, who could become a top assistant attorney general who advises Obama on legal matters, could receive a recess appointment. Meanwhile, conservatives Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski, write in a new editorial that Obama could be grooming Johnsen for an appointment to either the Supreme Court or the most influential appeals court in the nation.Republicans, joined by Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, have been successful in holding off Johnsen's nomination with...

In an ongoing theme today, President Obama threatened Republicans that he would use recess appointments for several nominees that are being held up by Republican Senators. "In our meeting I asked the congressional leadership to put a stop to these holds in which nominees for critical jobs are denied a vote for month," he said. "Surely we can set aside partisanship and do what's traditionally been done with these nominations." "If the Senate does not act, and I made this very clear," Obama continued, "I will consider making several recess appointments during the upcoming recess because we can't afford to...

Major Garrett tweets this response from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on the defeat of Craig Becker: "A Republican-led filibuster has put political interests over the needs of America’s working families," Trumka said. "We support President Obama’s expressed willingness to make recess appointments of critical posts in the federal government if that’s what it takes to get around minority delay and obstruction."

With a Democratic president soon taking office and a larger Democratic majority in the Senate, it's likely the use of pro forma sessions to prevent Executive Branch action will cease. The Senate has been meeting in pro forma sessions every fourth day for the past couple years as part of a tug-of-war with President Bush. "Pro forma" is Latin for "a formality," and in Senate parlance, "pro forma sessions" are a way the Senate can legally meet without really doing anything. No legislative business is allowed. They don't vote. They don't speechify. It's just gavel in, gavel out. Abandoning pro...