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Thursday, April 12, 2007

More Recess Appointments on the Horizon?

Sam•Fox (sam' foks') vt. 1. To install by recess appointment shortly after pretending to be cooperative by withdrawing a nomination.

Yesterday, the White House withdrew the names of two controversial officials nominated for posts in the EPA. Environmentalists criticized the nominations of both William Wehrum and Alex A. Beehler, and neither nominee appeared to enjoy support among Senate Democrats.

Under normal circumstances, this would be good news. But with President Bush circumstances are rarely normal. Bush recently showed false signs of cooperation by withdrawing the nomination of Sam Fox, only to appoint him during the following recess. The recess appointment of Susan Dudley was equally deceitful. With that in mind, who knows what the future holds for Wehrum and Beehler. The LA Times reports:

Congressional sources and industry lobbyists said they were not sure whether Bush intended to use the same tactic for Wehrum and Beehler.

"That was the plan all along," said a lobbyist with ties to the administration. Wehrum's post expires July 7, and Congress takes its summer break in August. But anger in Congress over last week's recess appointments may have changed the equation, several said.

Stay tuned to see if Bush will SamFox Wehrum or Beehler into the EPA.