April 3, 2005

IGNORING THE COUNSEL OF TRENT:

President Outmaneuvers Senator on Base Closings (Mike Allen, April 3, 2005, Washington Post)

Just before Congress returned from a two-week recess, President Bush on Friday night used his recess-appointment power to thwart an effort by Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to stall the work of a military base-closing commission.

When Congress is out of session, a president can use that power to sidestep the need for Senate confirmation by appointing officials who can perform their duties until the end of that Congress. The White House made the announcement at 7:27 p.m. Friday, ahead of the Senate's return at midday Monday.

Senate officials said Lott, who has had bitter relations with the White House since being unseated as majority leader in 2002, was using a procedure known as a "hold" to prevent the Senate from voting on the nomination of Anthony J. Principi, Bush's designee as chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, also known as BRAC.


Beaten by a lame duck.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 3, 2005 10:08 AM
Comments

Ignoring the Counsel of Trent? What, does that mean we're going to stop using the Trident[ine] Missile? (or should that be Missal?)

One pun deserves another, after all.

Posted by: John Thacker at April 3, 2005 5:41 PM

Sadly, Lott appears to be just another example of a decent man who gets into power in DC and becomes part of the problem rather than part of the solution. At one time, he had the most conservative voting record in the House. Perhaps he got too close to the brain-dead zombie of K Street, Bob Dole.

Posted by: bart at April 3, 2005 6:17 PM

night of the living senators.

Posted by: cjm at April 3, 2005 7:13 PM

Loser? Trent's the reason I changed my voter registration from Republican to Independent, out of embarrassment, back in the Clinton days when Clinton played Wiley Cayote with him and ran him off a cliff regularly. Now GW's doing it.

Nice hair though.

Posted by: Genecis at April 4, 2005 11:34 AM

Trent serves a useful purpose. He helps insulate his party from charges of hypocrisy by giving the GOP chances to slap down one of their own who's acting like a Democrat.

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at April 4, 2005 12:25 PM

Outwitting Trent isn't all that hard.

Posted by: Bob at April 5, 2005 10:29 AM
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