Recess appointment
Encyclopedia
A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States
, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate
is in recess
. The U.S. Constitution
requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in recess the President can act alone by making a recess appointment. To remain in effect a recess appointment must be approved by the Senate by the end of the next session of Congress, or the position becomes vacant again; in current practice this means that a recess appointment must be approved by roughly the end of the next calendar year. Recess appointments are authorized by Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states:
It has been argued that as the clause was originally understood, it was expected that if the Senate was in session when an office became vacant, the president would make a standard advice-and-consent appointment at that time. The argument further maintains that recess appointments were only to be made during intersession recesses, which during the early days of the country lasted between six and nine months, and were therefore
required to prevent important offices from remaining unfilled for long periods. The current interpretation, this view holds, allows appointments to be made during recesses too brief to justify bypassing the Senate.
Historically, presidents tended to make recess appointments when the Senate was adjourned for lengthy periods. Since World War II
, presidents have sometimes made recess appointments when Senate opposition appeared strong, hoping that the appointee might prove himself or herself in office and allow opposition to dissipate. Most recently, however, as partisanship on Capitol Hill has grown recess appointments have tended to solidify opposition to the appointee.
Following the intrasession appointment of William H. Pryor, Jr.
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
, a small number of criminal defendants whose appeals were denied by panels including Pryor appealed on the basis that Pryor's appointment was invalid. The Eleventh Circuit, in an en banc
decision in Evans v. Stephens held that the Constitution permitted both intrasession recess appointments and recess appointments to fill vacancies that existed prior to the congressional recess.
have made recess appointments. Washington appointed South Carolina
judge John Rutledge
as Chief Justice of the United States
during a congressional recess in 1795. Because of Rutledge's political views and occasional mental illness, however, the Senate rejected his nomination, and Rutledge subsequently attempted suicide
and then resigned.
New Jersey
judge William J. Brennan was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
in 1956 through a recess appointment. This was done in part with an eye on the presidential campaign that year; Eisenhower was running for reelection, and his advisors thought it would be politically advantageous to place a northeastern Catholic
on the court. Brennan was promptly confirmed when the Senate came back into session. Eisenhower made two other recess appointments, Chief Justice Earl Warren
and Potter Stewart
.
George H. W. Bush
appointed Lawrence Eagleburger
Secretary of State
during a recess in 1992; Eagleburger had in effect filled that role after James Baker
resigned.
U.N. Ambassador
during the 2005 summer Senate recess.
President Bill Clinton
made a recess appointment of Bill Lann Lee
as Assistant Attorney General
for civil rights
, when it became clear that Lee's strong support of affirmative action
would lead to Senate opposition. Similarly, when the Senate did not vote on his nomination of James Hormel
to be ambassador to Luxembourg
, Clinton made a recess appointment. Many people felt that the Senate's inaction was because Hormel was openly gay
, and when he was appointed, became the first openly gay U.S. ambassador.
With three and a half weeks to go in his presidency, Clinton used the recess appointment power to place Roger L. Gregory on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
. Gregory was the first African-American to serve on that court. This was the first time since President Carter that the recess appointment procedure had been used to select someone to an Article III judgeship
. The office had been vacant for close to a decade since it had been created. After the Senate declined to take up Gregory's nomination, and the 2000 Presidential election was over, Clinton installed Gregory on the Fourth Circuit on December 27, 2000. Gregory's recess appointment would have lasted until the Senate recessed at the end of 2001. He was renominated by President George W. Bush on May 9, 2001, and on July 20, 2001, the Senate confirmed Judge Gregory
The appointment of Gregory raised questions about the meaning of the Recess Clause, Senate prerogatives, and the opportunity of a litigant in federal court to have a case handled by a judge with full independence. The constitutional questions involved are still unresolved and were discussed in a report by the Congressional Research Service.
President George W. Bush
appointed two judges during Senate recesses, William Pryor
and Charles Pickering
, to U.S. courts of appeals after their nominations were filibuster
ed by Senate Democrats. Judge Pickering, whom Bush appointed to the Fifth Circuit
, withdrew his name from consideration for renomination and retired when his recess appointment expired. Judge Pryor was subsequently confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment to the Eleventh Circuit
. In two terms, Bush made 171 recess appointments.
On August 1, 2005, Bush made a recess appointment of John Bolton
, to serve as U.S. representative to the United Nations
. Bolton had also been the subject of a Senate filibuster
. The filibuster concerned documents that the White House
refused to release, which Democrats suggested may contain proof of Bolton's abusive treatment and coercion of staff members or of his improper use of National Security Agency
communications intercepts regarding U.S. citizens. Having failed to win Senate confirmation, he resigned his office in December 2006 concurrently with the adjournment of the 109th Congress
.
On April 4, 2007, during the Easter recess of Congress, Bush announced three recess appointments. The first was Sam Fox
to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium
. Fox's appointment had been thwarted in Congress because he had donated $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
during the 2004 presidential campaign
, a group whose advertisements many Democrats blamed for John Kerry's
loss. The second appointment announced that day was Susan Dudley
to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget.
The third recess appointment on April 4 was Andrew G. Biggs to serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
. Biggs was investigated by Senate Democrats in 2005, while serving as Assistant Commissioner for the Social Security Administration, concerning whether he violated a federal ban on congressional lobbying by federal employees when he edited the prepared testimony for a lobbyist appearing before a Democratic Policy Committee Social Security hearing as alleged by John Stanton in Congress Daily.
made his first recess appointments with 15 appointees to boards and agencies including the contentious choice of union lawyer Craig Becker
to the National Labor Relations Board. Several of the nominees, including Jill Long Thompson, Chai Feldblum
, Mark Pearce
, Victoria Lipnic, P. David Lopez and Jacqueline Berrien, later were confirmed by the full Senate during 2010, while several others, including Islam A. Siddiqui
and Michael W. Punke, were confirmed in 2011.
On July 7, 2010, Obama made three more recess appointments: Donald Berwick
to be the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
; Joshua Gotbaum to be a director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
; and Philip E. Coyle III to be Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President. Of the three appointments, Berwick's was highly controversial, because his nomination had not been vetted by the United States Senate Committee on Finance
and because those in opposition to the move suggested that Obama was trying to avoid tough questions about the recently passed healthcare reform law. Of the three, Gotbaum later was given full confirmation by the Senate.
On August 19, 2010, Obama made four more recess appointments: Mari Carmen Aponte
to be Chief of Mission for El Salvador
; Elisabeth Hagen to be Under Secretary for Food Safety in the United States Department of Agriculture
; Winslow Sargeant
to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy in the Small Business Administration
; and Richard Sorian to be an Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the United States Department of Health and Human Services
. Hagen was confirmed by the Senate on September 16, 2010; the other three nominees are still awaiting a full Senate vote.
On December 29, 2010, Obama made six more recess appointments: James M. Cole
to be U.S. Deputy Attorney General
, William J. Boarman
to be United States Public Printer, Matthew Bryza
to be U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan
, Robert Stephen Ford to be U.S. ambassador to Syria
, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr.
to be U.S. ambassador to Turkey, and Norman L. Eisen to be U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic
. Of the six, Ricciardone was blocked by Sen. Sam Brownback
, who contended that Ricciardone was not sufficiently supportive of human rights while previously stationed in Cairo, Bryza faced opposition in the Armenian-American community and also regarding his unusually close ties to the Azerbaijan government, Ford was blocked by senators by concerns that restoring an envoy to Damascus would be seen by Syrians as a reward for supporting terrorism, and Eisen long has been a critic of Republicans. However, in many regards, Cole was the highest-profile recess appointee, and Senate Republicans had blocked a vote on his nomination over his activities as an independent consultant at American International Group
during its near-collapse and also over previous comments about terrorism. Cole later received full Senate confirmation, on June 28, 2011, while Ford and Ricciardone won full Senate confirmation on October 3 and October 4, 2011, respectively.
prevented any further recess appointments. Bush promised not to make any during the August recess that year, but no agreement was reached for the two-week Thanksgiving break in November 2007. As a result, Reid did not allow recess of more than three days from then until the end of the Bush presidency by holding pro forma sessions. Prior to this, there had been speculation that James Holsinger
would receive a recess appointment as U.S. surgeon general
.
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
is in recess
Recess (motion)
In parliamentary procedure, "recess" refers to legislative bodies—such as parliaments, assemblies, juries—that are released to reassemble at a later time. The members may leave the meeting room, but are expected to remain nearby. A recess may be simply to allow a break or it may be...
. The U.S. Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in recess the President can act alone by making a recess appointment. To remain in effect a recess appointment must be approved by the Senate by the end of the next session of Congress, or the position becomes vacant again; in current practice this means that a recess appointment must be approved by roughly the end of the next calendar year. Recess appointments are authorized by Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states:
Legitimacy of intrasession appointments
According to Henry B. Hogue, of the Government and Finance Division of the Congressional Research Service,It has been argued that as the clause was originally understood, it was expected that if the Senate was in session when an office became vacant, the president would make a standard advice-and-consent appointment at that time. The argument further maintains that recess appointments were only to be made during intersession recesses, which during the early days of the country lasted between six and nine months, and were therefore
required to prevent important offices from remaining unfilled for long periods. The current interpretation, this view holds, allows appointments to be made during recesses too brief to justify bypassing the Senate.
Historically, presidents tended to make recess appointments when the Senate was adjourned for lengthy periods. Since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, presidents have sometimes made recess appointments when Senate opposition appeared strong, hoping that the appointee might prove himself or herself in office and allow opposition to dissipate. Most recently, however, as partisanship on Capitol Hill has grown recess appointments have tended to solidify opposition to the appointee.
Following the intrasession appointment of William H. Pryor, Jr.
William H. Pryor, Jr.
William Holcombe "Bill" Pryor, Jr. is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Previously, he was the Attorney General of the State of Alabama from 1997 to 2004.-Background:...
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...
, a small number of criminal defendants whose appeals were denied by panels including Pryor appealed on the basis that Pryor's appointment was invalid. The Eleventh Circuit, in an en banc
En banc
En banc, in banc, in banco or in bank is a French term used to refer to the hearing of a legal case where all judges of a court will hear the case , rather than a panel of them. It is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance...
decision in Evans v. Stephens held that the Constitution permitted both intrasession recess appointments and recess appointments to fill vacancies that existed prior to the congressional recess.
Examples and use
Presidents since George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
have made recess appointments. Washington appointed South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
judge John Rutledge
John Rutledge
John Rutledge was an American statesman and judge. He was the first Governor of South Carolina following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 31st overall...
as Chief Justice of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
during a congressional recess in 1795. Because of Rutledge's political views and occasional mental illness, however, the Senate rejected his nomination, and Rutledge subsequently attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and then resigned.
New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
judge William J. Brennan was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
in 1956 through a recess appointment. This was done in part with an eye on the presidential campaign that year; Eisenhower was running for reelection, and his advisors thought it would be politically advantageous to place a northeastern Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
on the court. Brennan was promptly confirmed when the Senate came back into session. Eisenhower made two other recess appointments, Chief Justice Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
and Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.-Education:Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan,...
.
George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
appointed Lawrence Eagleburger
Lawrence Eagleburger
Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger was an American statesman and former career diplomat, who served briefly as the United States Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush. Previously, he had served in lesser capacities under Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H....
Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
during a recess in 1992; Eagleburger had in effect filled that role after James Baker
James Baker
James Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
resigned.
Recent appointments and controversies
George W. Bush appointed John R. BoltonJohn R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
U.N. Ambassador
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
during the 2005 summer Senate recess.
President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
made a recess appointment of Bill Lann Lee
Bill Lann Lee
Bill Lann Lee is a Chinese American civil rights lawyer who served as Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under President Bill Clinton....
as Assistant Attorney General
United States Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an Assistant Attorney General.The President of the United States appoints individuals to the position of Assistant Attorney General with the advice and consent of the Senate...
for civil rights
United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The Division was established on December 9, 1957, by...
, when it became clear that Lee's strong support of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
would lead to Senate opposition. Similarly, when the Senate did not vote on his nomination of James Hormel
James Hormel
James Catherwood Hormel is an American philanthropist and grandson of George A. Hormel, founder of Hormel Foods .-Early years:Hormel was born in Austin, Minnesota. He earned a B.A...
to be ambassador to Luxembourg
United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
The United States has sent ambassadors to Luxembourg since the beginning of the 20th century.This is a complete list of United States envoys and ambassadors appointed to Luxembourg since 1903:- United States Envoys to Luxembourg:* Stanford Newel 1903-1905...
, Clinton made a recess appointment. Many people felt that the Senate's inaction was because Hormel was openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, and when he was appointed, became the first openly gay U.S. ambassador.
With three and a half weeks to go in his presidency, Clinton used the recess appointment power to place Roger L. Gregory on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:*District of Maryland*Eastern District of North Carolina...
. Gregory was the first African-American to serve on that court. This was the first time since President Carter that the recess appointment procedure had been used to select someone to an Article III judgeship
Article I and Article III tribunals
In the United States, the American legal system includes both state courts and United States federal courts. The federal tribunals may be an Article III tribunal or another adjudicative body classified as an Article I or an Article IV tribunal...
. The office had been vacant for close to a decade since it had been created. After the Senate declined to take up Gregory's nomination, and the 2000 Presidential election was over, Clinton installed Gregory on the Fourth Circuit on December 27, 2000. Gregory's recess appointment would have lasted until the Senate recessed at the end of 2001. He was renominated by President George W. Bush on May 9, 2001, and on July 20, 2001, the Senate confirmed Judge Gregory
The appointment of Gregory raised questions about the meaning of the Recess Clause, Senate prerogatives, and the opportunity of a litigant in federal court to have a case handled by a judge with full independence. The constitutional questions involved are still unresolved and were discussed in a report by the Congressional Research Service.
President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
appointed two judges during Senate recesses, William Pryor
William H. Pryor, Jr.
William Holcombe "Bill" Pryor, Jr. is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Previously, he was the Attorney General of the State of Alabama from 1997 to 2004.-Background:...
and Charles Pickering
Charles W. Pickering
Charles Willis Pickering, Sr. is a retired federal judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.- Background :...
, to U.S. courts of appeals after their nominations were filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
ed by Senate Democrats. Judge Pickering, whom Bush appointed to the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...
, withdrew his name from consideration for renomination and retired when his recess appointment expired. Judge Pryor was subsequently confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment to the Eleventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...
. In two terms, Bush made 171 recess appointments.
On August 1, 2005, Bush made a recess appointment of John Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
, to serve as U.S. representative to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. Bolton had also been the subject of a Senate filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
. The filibuster concerned documents that the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
refused to release, which Democrats suggested may contain proof of Bolton's abusive treatment and coercion of staff members or of his improper use of National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
communications intercepts regarding U.S. citizens. Having failed to win Senate confirmation, he resigned his office in December 2006 concurrently with the adjournment of the 109th Congress
109th United States Congress
The One Hundred Ninth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members...
.
On April 4, 2007, during the Easter recess of Congress, Bush announced three recess appointments. The first was Sam Fox
Sam Fox
Sam Fox is an American businessman in St. Louis. He was the United States Ambassador to Belgium from April 11, 2007 until January 2, 2009. President George W...
to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Fox's appointment had been thwarted in Congress because he had donated $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Swift Vets and POWs for Truth
Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth , was a political group of United States Swift boat veterans and former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 presidential election campaign for the purpose of opposing John Kerry's candidacy...
during the 2004 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, a group whose advertisements many Democrats blamed for John Kerry's
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
loss. The second appointment announced that day was Susan Dudley
Susan Dudley
Susan E. Dudley is an American academic who served as Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs , Office of Management and Budget in the administration of George W. Bush. As such, Dudley was the top regulatory official at the White House.-Early life:Dudley was born in...
to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is an office of the United States Government that Congress established in the 1980 Paperwork Reduction Act. OIRA is located within the Office of Management and Budget, which is an agency within the Executive Office of the President...
(OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget.
The third recess appointment on April 4 was Andrew G. Biggs to serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
Social Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits...
. Biggs was investigated by Senate Democrats in 2005, while serving as Assistant Commissioner for the Social Security Administration, concerning whether he violated a federal ban on congressional lobbying by federal employees when he edited the prepared testimony for a lobbyist appearing before a Democratic Policy Committee Social Security hearing as alleged by John Stanton in Congress Daily.
Appointments by the Obama administration
On March 27, 2010, President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
made his first recess appointments with 15 appointees to boards and agencies including the contentious choice of union lawyer Craig Becker
Craig Becker
Harold Craig Becker , known professionally as Craig Becker, is a member of the National Labor Relations Board.-Early life and education:...
to the National Labor Relations Board. Several of the nominees, including Jill Long Thompson, Chai Feldblum
Chai Feldblum
Chai Rachel Feldblum , November 27, 2008. MetroWeekly [Washington, DC].. Accessed October 11, 2009. is an American law professor at Georgetown University, author and activist for disability rights and LGBT rights...
, Mark Pearce
Mark Pearce
Mark Pearce is an English actor, born in Coventry in 1976.At the age of 12 Mark made his professional stage debut in ‘Cinderella’ at Belgrade TheatreCoventry, directed by Iain Lauchlan.He went onto to study English and Drama at University College of St...
, Victoria Lipnic, P. David Lopez and Jacqueline Berrien, later were confirmed by the full Senate during 2010, while several others, including Islam A. Siddiqui
Islam A. Siddiqui
Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui is Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative . Prior to this, he was Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, a biotechnology industry consortium....
and Michael W. Punke, were confirmed in 2011.
On July 7, 2010, Obama made three more recess appointments: Donald Berwick
Donald Berwick
Donald M. Berwick is the outgoing Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services . Prior to his work in the administration, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement a not-for-profit organization helping to lead the improvement of...
to be the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration , is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer...
; Joshua Gotbaum to be a director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is an independent agency of the United States government that was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and...
; and Philip E. Coyle III to be Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President. Of the three appointments, Berwick's was highly controversial, because his nomination had not been vetted by the United States Senate Committee on Finance
United States Senate Committee on Finance
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...
and because those in opposition to the move suggested that Obama was trying to avoid tough questions about the recently passed healthcare reform law. Of the three, Gotbaum later was given full confirmation by the Senate.
On August 19, 2010, Obama made four more recess appointments: Mari Carmen Aponte
Mari Carmen Aponte
Mari Carmen Aponte is a Washington DC-based Puerto Rico-born attorney who serves, due to a recess appointment by President Barack Obama, as ambassador to El Salvador.-Personal life:...
to be Chief of Mission for El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
; Elisabeth Hagen to be Under Secretary for Food Safety in the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
; Winslow Sargeant
Winslow Sargeant
Winslow Sargeant is Chief Counsel for Advocacy for the Small Business Administration and a former venture capital executive with a background in engineering. He was installed at the SBA in a recess appointment by U.S. president Barack Obama. Sargeant was a managing director at a Madison,...
to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy in the Small Business Administration
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...
; and Richard Sorian to be an Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the United States Department of Health and Human Services
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
. Hagen was confirmed by the Senate on September 16, 2010; the other three nominees are still awaiting a full Senate vote.
On December 29, 2010, Obama made six more recess appointments: James M. Cole
James M. Cole
James Michael Cole is an American attorney who has served as United States Deputy Attorney General since December 29, 2010. He was first installed as Deputy Attorney General following a recess appointment by President Barack Obama on December 29, 2010...
to be U.S. Deputy Attorney General
Deputy Attorney General
Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the department, and may act as Attorney General during the absence of...
, William J. Boarman
William J. Boarman
William Joseph "Bill" Boarman is the 26th Public Printer of the United States. A former American printer, labor union leader, and government consultant, he has previously served as Senior Vice-President of the Communications Workers of America and President of that union's Printing, Publishing &...
to be United States Public Printer, Matthew Bryza
Matthew Bryza
Matthew James Bryza is a United States diplomat. Currently serves as the United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan.-Education:...
to be U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Robert Stephen Ford to be U.S. ambassador to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr.
Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr.
Francis J. Ricciardone is the United States ambassador to Turkey. Previously he was Deputy Ambassador at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was also on leave from the U.S. Department of State as a guest scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has served as U.S...
to be U.S. ambassador to Turkey, and Norman L. Eisen to be U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. Of the six, Ricciardone was blocked by Sen. Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, who contended that Ricciardone was not sufficiently supportive of human rights while previously stationed in Cairo, Bryza faced opposition in the Armenian-American community and also regarding his unusually close ties to the Azerbaijan government, Ford was blocked by senators by concerns that restoring an envoy to Damascus would be seen by Syrians as a reward for supporting terrorism, and Eisen long has been a critic of Republicans. However, in many regards, Cole was the highest-profile recess appointee, and Senate Republicans had blocked a vote on his nomination over his activities as an independent consultant at American International Group
American International Group
American International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
during its near-collapse and also over previous comments about terrorism. Cole later received full Senate confirmation, on June 28, 2011, while Ford and Ricciardone won full Senate confirmation on October 3 and October 4, 2011, respectively.
Senate action preventing recess appointments
Sometimes, especially when the Senate is not controlled by the same political party as the President, the Senate leadership will seek to block any potential recess appointments by having the Senate recess in short time increments, rather than for a longer period that would allow recess appointments to be made. For example, during the last two years of the George W. Bush administration, Senate Majority Leader Harry ReidHarry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
prevented any further recess appointments. Bush promised not to make any during the August recess that year, but no agreement was reached for the two-week Thanksgiving break in November 2007. As a result, Reid did not allow recess of more than three days from then until the end of the Bush presidency by holding pro forma sessions. Prior to this, there had been speculation that James Holsinger
James W. Holsinger
James Wilson Holsinger, Jr., is an American physician. A former major general in the U.S. Army Reserve , he has worked primarily in public health for over thirty years. He served as the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health from 1990 to 1993, during the administrations of George H. W....
would receive a recess appointment as U.S. surgeon general
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
.