By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
December 26, 2007
WASHINGTON - The House was quiet as a mouse the day after
Christmas. But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating
in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle
with President Bush.
A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb,
D-Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney
general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without
the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned,
allowing the president to install officials without Senate
confirmation.
The business of blocking Bush's recess appointments was serious.
It represents an institutional standoff between Congress and
the president that could repeat itself during Congress' vacations
for the remainder of Bush's presidency.
In such situations, pro forma sessions also could give Bush
some political cover on popular legislation he doesn't want
to sign. When Congress is holding pro forma sessions and is
not formally adjourned, a bill sent to a president automatically
becomes law 10 days after he receives it excluding Sundays
unless he vetoes it.
That could be the fate of two bills Congress passed last week.
One growing out of the Virginia Tech massacre makes it harder
for people with mental illness records to buy guns. The other
makes it easier for journalists and others to obtain government
documents through the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA
bill, for example, would become law on New Year's Eve if not
vetoed before then, according to Senate Judiciary Committee
officials.
In practice, Wednesday's pro forma process was almost comical.
"Good morning!" Webb, sporting a respectful tie
and jacket, called to the floor staff assembled just for the
occasion in an otherwise sleepy and chilly Capitol. One clerk
congratulated Webb on being 30 seconds early, thrice the amount
of time it would take to complete the Senate's work for the
day.
Climbing to the president's chair, Webb took the gavel and
banged it.
"The Senate will come to order," he intoned, reading
from a two-line script to a floor empty of other senators but
witnessed from the gallery by one reporter and about a half
dozen staffers. "Under the previous order, the Senate
stands in recess until Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 10 a.m."
His work done, Webb left. The floor staff reported to those
in the gallery overhead that the session had lasted nine seconds.
"I didn't appoint myself ambassador to a tropical nation," Webb,
a former Navy secretary, novelist and TV documentary maker,
quipped afterward.
Before Congress left last week, Democrats scheduled 11 pro
forma sessions to fill the void until the Senate returns to
regular session on Jan. 22. The purpose was to stop Bush from
using the constitutional power presidents hold under the Constitution
to bypass Senate confirmation and unilaterally install his
nominees in office when Congress is adjourned.
Democrats wanted to block one such recess appointment in particular:
Steven Bradbury, acting chief of the Justice Department's Office
of Legislative Counsel. Bush nominated Bradbury for the job
and asked the Senate to remove the "acting" in his
title.
Democrats would have none of it, complaining Bradbury had
signed two secret memos in 2005 saying it was OK for the CIA
to use harsh interrogation techniques some call it torture
on terrorism detainees.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Bush refused
to rule out appointing Bradbury to the job if the Senate formally
adjourned. So, Reid decided to keep the Senate in session with
pro forma meetings every two or three days.
___
The gun bill is H.R. 2640.
The Freedom of Information Act bill is S. 2488.
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