President Clinton is testing the constitutional will of the U.S. Senate, according to Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who claims that unless his fellow senators have the guts to stand up to the president now, Clinton will succeed in exercising powers the Constitution never intended.
Sen. James Inhofe, R- Okla., has begun a Constitutional battle with President Bill Clinton. |
"President Clinton has shown contempt for the Congress and the Constitution. He has treated the Senate confirmation process as little more than a nuisance which he can circumvent whenever he wants to impose his will on the country," said Inhofe.
At issue are "recess appointments." The Constitution allows a president temporarily to fill federal vacancies that occur during a Senate recess, allowing that unconfirmed appointee to serve until the next Congress is seated. This arrangement was practical in the early history of the U.S. when Congress was frequently out of session, distances were long, transportation and communication slow, and vacancies needed to be filled to keep the government functioning.
TRENDING: Greatest Show on Earth: The Hur report hearing
However, President Clinton has repeatedly used this provision as a device to appoint controversial people whom the Senate has been reluctant to confirm. Last May, for instance, Clinton appointed James Hormel, a professed homosexual, as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. Although the Senate had balked at confirming Hormel's appointment, Clinton snuck him in during the Senate's recess, enabling the unconfirmed Ambassador Hormel to serve until the next Congress is seated in 2001.
Back in 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., established a workable policy to deal with recess appointments. Reagan agreed to provide the Senate with a list of contemplated recess appointments while the upper house was still in session and able to take action.
Last June, Clinton agreed to abide by the same policy.
In October, the president notified the Senate of 13 appointments he intended to make during the Christmas recess. Senate conservatives examined the proposed appointments and lodged objections to five of them.
They did so in writing, when on Nov. 10, 17 senators led by Inhofe signed a letter to the president warning him that if he appointed any of the five during the Christmas recess, the senators would respond by holding all of Clinton's judicial nominees hostage for the rest of his term - that is, through January 2001.
Then came the test. On Dec. 16, the term of Sara M. Fox on the National Labor Relations Board came to an end. The next day, Clinton reappointed her to another five-year term as a recess appointment, enabling her to serve without Senate confirmation until the end of this year. Her name was not on the list of 13 Clinton had previously submitted.
The period of time between Dec. 17 and the return of the Senate in January did not present any urgency for the National Labor Relations Board requiring Fox's immediate reappointment.
Yet, rather than wait a few weeks for the Senate to come back into session, Clinton thumbed his nose at the Senate and tossed a dare to Inhofe, according to Tom Jipping, director of the Free Congress Foundation's Center for Law and Democracy.
Clinton's actions in reappointing Fax show that he is not willing to keep his word, said Jipping.
Inhofe, who fought Clinton's recess appointments all last year, agrees. Because Clinton made the Fox recess appointment without providing advance notice to the Senate, "the president has broken his word yet again, and confirmed the deep and unfortunate breakdown in trust which exists between the Clinton-Gore administration and the Congress," said Inhofe.
However, the White House claims it cleared the nomination with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. Lott spokesman John Czwartacki confirmed that the White House "did inform us at some point prior to the recess" of Clinton's intention, according to an Associated Press report.
Nevertheless, Inhofe believes the written understanding the senators had with the president has been violated, and says he will now move to block Clinton's future judicial appointments.
"I will place a hold on every judicial nominee which reaches the Senate calendar for the remainder of the Clinton presidency. I will urge my colleagues to do the same, with the intention of preventing the confirmation of these lifetime appointments," said Inhofe.
The Center for Law and Democracy has waged a campaign to force the Senate into action.
"This is not a Clinton vs. the Senate battle. This is Clinton vs. the Constitution," said Jipping, the center's director.
Jipping told WorldNetDaily that Clinton's action was deliberate and intentional. It was done as a test. The Fox appointment was a fairly uncontroversial one, he said, enabling Clinton to use it to test the will of the Senate on the recess appointment issue, and to further intimidate the upper chamber so the president can more easily advance other issues, claims Jipping.
"Mr. Clinton is guilty here of constitutional vandalism," said Jipping, adding that it is Clinton, not Inhofe, who is now responsible for the crisis that has been created in the Senate.
"Mr. Clinton agreed to give timely notice and failed to do so. Mr. Clinton knew the consequences of abusing his recess appointment power and did it anyway," said Jipping. "Mr. Clinton could have avoided this conflict with the Senate, but chose the path of maximum confrontation."
Jipping called on Lott to support Inhofe and the other senators who signed the Nov. 10 letter. His organization has begun a campaign to encourage citizens to send messages of encouragement to Lott.
"Mr. Clinton so directly undermined and disregarded the Senate, the Senate leadership has the obligation to [support Inhofe's stand] as well. The Senate's constitutional role in the appointments process, the Constitution's fundamental system of checks and balances, and the integrity of our national leaders are all at stake," said Jipping.
The 17 senators who signed the Nov. 10 letter to the president are: James M. Inhofe, R.-Okla.; Jesse Helms, R.-N.C.; Wayne Allard, R.-Colo.; Mike Crapo, R.-Idaho; Mike Enzi, R.-Wyo.; Bob Smith, R.-N.H.; George V. Voinovich, R.-Ohio; Pete V. Domenici, R.-N.M.; Phil Gramm, R.-Texas; Larry E. Craig, R.-Idaho; Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky.; Craig Thomas, R.-Wyo.; Rod Grams, R.-Minn.; Tim Hutchinson, R.-Ark.; Conrad Burns, R.-Mont.; Charles E. Grassley, R.-Iowa; and Richard C. Shelby, R.-Ala.
Previous story: Senators warn Clinton on appointments