Congressional Circumvention Corrected

President Bush announced earlier today that he had accepted the resignation of (soon to be "former") US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. Following a controversial March 2005 nomination (and much to my chagrin) Bolton had been appointed to the post in August of last year while the Senate was in recess. Bolton was among the many controversial nominees proposed by the President during his "mandate period" in the wake of the 2004 elections. When strong opposition in the Senate made Bolton's confirmation unlikely, Bush did what any "decider" would do: wait until the Senate goes on recess.

As you may recall from high school civics class, Article II of the US Constitution provides in part that "[t]he President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session." As a result, Mr. Bolton's recess appointment was set to end with Republican control in the Senate (along with any chance for Mr. Bush to get him confirmed).

In a letter to the President dated last Friday, Bolton praised Bush's leadership as "critical in safeguarding America's values and interests in a time of peril and challenge". The resignation letter to Mr. Bush did not say that "it's not you, it's me", perhaps because Bolton knows that both he and Bush are equally to blame. If it is any consolation to Mr. Bolton, I don't have a job either; and if it's any consolation to Mr. Bush, I'd be happy to fill the UN Ambassador position until a replacement can be found.

In related news, www.stopbolton.org has not yet announced plans for the future.