Then this:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/16/bush. ... index.html
Bush puts Pickering on appeals court
Recess appointment draws criticism from Democrats
From John King
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) --President Bush used executive powers Friday to bypass Congress and grant a spot on the federal appeals bench to U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering, stoking a long-simmering feud with Senate Democrats over judicial nominations.
Pickering's nomination has been stalled by Senate Democrats, but Bush's use of a "recess appointment" means Pickering can assume a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for about a year.
"A bipartisan majority of Senators supports his confirmation, and if he were given a vote, he would be confirmed," President Bush said in a statement.
"But a minority of Democratic Senators has been using unprecedented obstructionist tactics to prevent him and other qualified individuals from receiving up-or-down votes. Their tactics are inconsistent with the Senate's constitutional responsibility and are hurting our judicial system," the president's statement said.
"Again I call on the Senate to stop playing politics with the American judicial system and to give my nominees the up-or-down votes they deserve."
The president said he was "proud" to appoint Pickering, whom he described as "highly qualified to serve on the Court of Appeals." Bush also said Pickering "has widespread bipartisan support from those who know him best."
Democrats have accused Pickering of supporting segregation as a young man, and promoting anti-abortion and anti-voting rights views as a state lawmaker, The Associated Press reported. They also have said they wouldn't be able to trust him to keep his conservative opinions out of his work on the federal appeals court.
The 5th Circuit handles appeals from Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, and the federal judges on that circuit have been trailblazers on desegregation and voting rights in the past, according to the AP.
The president's move generated outrage among Democrats, and was a reminder that judicial nomination, while rarely an issue that generates national headlines or debate, is one that both parties view as an election-year battleground.
Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts said Pickering's appointment "serves only to emphasize again this administration's shameful opposition to civil rights.
"The President's recess appointment of this anti-civil rights judge the day after laying a wreath on the grave of Martin Luther King is an insult to Dr. King, an insult to every African-American, and an insult to all Americans who share Dr. King's great goals," Kennedy said in a written statement.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, echoed Kennedy's sentiments.
"A man who defended cross burning does not deserve elevation to the bench," he said in statement. "As the new year began, many of us had hoped the president would adopt a more bipartisan approach in his selection of judges. Instead, this recess appointment is a finger in the eye to all those seeking fairness and bipartisanship in the judicial nominations process."
But the man who pushed the nomination, Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, praised the president.
"While temporary recess appointments certainly are not a preferred means of getting quality judges on the bench, in this exceptional case, Judge Pickering's record deems this recess appointment fully appropriate," Lott said.
Lott promised to continue to push for a formal Senate confirmation vote, but the president's use of the recess appointment just a week before Congress returned to Washington was certain to further antagonize the Democrats, who have blocked action on the Pickering nomination.
Pickering has denied allegations of racial insensitivity.
"For 25 years I have strongly advocated that African-Americans and whites should sit down and talk in a positive and constructive manner to try to promote better understanding. This I've done," Pickering said after a meeting with the Mississippi Black Caucus last year, according to the AP.
Recess appointments are valid until the next Congress takes office -- in this case January 2005.
Presidents have the power to bypass Congress and make "recess" appointments to judgeships and other positions that require Senate confirmation. The use of the power is relatively rare but hardly unprecedented.
Two Supreme Court justices received recess appointments. President Dwight D. Eisenhower put William Brennan and Earl Warren on the high court that way. And Justice Thurgood Marshall worked his way to the Supreme Court after President John F. Kennedy used a recess appointment to place Marshall on the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Presidents have used recess appointments to bring diversity to the court system, according to the National Archives.
Including Marshall, four of the five first African-American judges at the federal appellate level received recess appointments. And two of the three first female judges also were recess appointments.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
