Yesterday, the cloture vote on the nomination of John Bolton was defeated in the Senate. Democrats claimed the White House should release 40 or so pages of documents related to his time at the State Department and promised a vote as soon as those documents are released. The White House is refusing to release the documents.
The White House is now considering a recess appointment.
Recess appointments are not meant for high-profile candidates who continue to be debated in the Senate. At most, they should be used to appoint low level, uncontroversial nominees along with nominees who must begin their jobs in an emergency. The recess appointment should not be used to maneuver around our system of checks and balances.
President Bush claims his top priority internationally is the spread of freedom and democracy, and I quite sincerely believe him most days. With democracy, however, comes the need for strong democratic institutions and minority representation. Appointing John Bolton by going around Congress and avoiding the system of checks and balances will send the wrong message to the world community about how the US respects democracy at home.
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