Recess Appointments Made by President George W. Bush (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised April 15, 2009 |
| Report Number |
RL33310 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Henry B. Hogue, Analyst in American National Government; Maureen Bearden, Information Research Specialist |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Under the Constitution, the President and the Senate share the power to make appointments to the highest-level politically appointed positions in the federal government. The Constitution also empowers the President unilaterally to make a temporary appointment to such a position if it is vacant and the Senate is in recess. Such an appointment, termed a recess appointment, expires at the end of the following session of the Senate. This report identifies recess appointments made by President George W. Bush during his presidency. Basic descriptive statistics regarding these appointments are also provided.
President Bush made 171 recess appointments. President William J. Clinton, in comparison, made a total of 139 recess appointments during the course of his presidency. Of President Bush's 171 recess appointments, 99 were to full-time positions, and the remaining 72 were to part-time positions. Thirty were made during recesses between Congresses or between sessions of Congress (intersession recess appointments). The remaining 141 were made during recesses within sessions of Congress (intrasession recess appointments). The duration of the 24 recesses during which President Bush made recess appointments ranged from 11 to 48 days. The average (mean) duration of these recesses was 26 days, and the median duration was also 26 days.
In 165 of the 171 cases in which President Bush made a recess appointment, the individual was also nominated to the position to which he or she was appointed. In 162 of these 165 cases, the individuals being appointed had previously been nominated to the position. In the three remaining cases, the individuals were first nominated to the position after the recess appointment. Of the 165 cases in which the President submitted a nomination for the recess appointee, 95 resulted in confirmation and the remaining 70 failed to be confirmed. In 31 of these 70 recess appointment cases, the President withdrew the nominations of the appointees, and in the remaining 39 cases, the nominations were returned to the President.
Additional information may be found in other CRS reports. For general information on recess appointments practice, see CRS Report RS21308, Recess Appointments: Frequently Asked Questions, by Henry B. Hogue. For information on related legal issues, see CRS Report RL32971, Judicial Recess Appointments: A Legal Overview, and CRS Report RL33009, Recess Appointments: A Legal Overview, both by T.J. Halstead.
This report will not be updated.
