President Obama's Controversial Recess Appointments

(ABC News) During his vacation in Hawaii last week, President Obama has used his recess appointment power to fill six administration posts, some controversial, such as Washington attorney James Cole as deputy attorney general and Robert Ford as U.S. ambassador to Syria.  The White House's justification for the recess appointments is because the positions have been vacant for way too long and they needed to be filled.  Among some of the other appointments are four U.S. ambassadors to Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Syria and Turkey--whose nominations were stalled in the Senate.  The appointment of Ford as ambassador to Syria raised concerns on the Hill that such a move would be rewarding Damascus for bad behavior.

After Obama's recess appointment of Ford, the incoming Republican chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R-FL), who has promised to push back against the Obama administration's foreign policy, issued a paper statement slamming the move as "regrettable."  "During the past two years, Syria has continued to sponsor violent extremism and pursue dangerous weapons programs, and has also supplied long-range missiles to Hezbollah and reasserted its destabilizing influence in Lebanon at the expense of that nation's sovereignty," Ros-Lehtinen said.  Ros-Lehtinen said that making undeserved concessions to Syria tells the regime in Damascus that it can continue to pursue its dangerous agenda and not face any consequences from the U.S.  She claims it sends the wrong message to a regime which continues to harm and threaten U.S. interests and those of such critical allies as Israel.  Other recess appointments have faced opposition as well.

Frank Ricciardone has his nomination as envoy to Turkey help up by former Senator Sam Brownback, (R-KS), who has now retired from the Senate, over concerns about his approach to human rights when ambassador to Egypt.  Matt Byrza, the nominee as ambassador to Azerbaijan, was held up by Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Robert Menendez of New Jersey over criticism from an Armenian-American group over the Obama administration's opposition to a Congressional resolution condemning the 1915 Armenian genocide.  Norm Eisen, nominated as ambassador to the Czech Republic, was formerly the administration's "ethics czar," and had been held up by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), over an entirely unrelated issue--his role in the firing of an inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service in June 2009. 

Cole's nomination as deputy attorney general had been held up for months over his ties to AIG, with Republicans questioning his role as an independent consultant prior to the company's near-collapse in 2008.  Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised the Cole's appointment, and said the delays in considering his nomination were unnecessary and wrong.  Republicans have focused on a 2002 column written by Cole that criticized the Bush administration's battle against terrorism.  A president can make recess appointments when the Senate is adjourned for the session, and the appointments last until the end of the next session.