Gordon, does the President see recess appointments as a way of circumventing Senate opposition to his nominees?
MR. JOHNDROE: I think the President views recess appointments as an appropriate way to get people who are qualified into jobs that need to be filled. And it’s a process that’s been used many times over the years for people whose nominations have lingered or have been stopped for various reasons. Q Well, on the Sam Fox case, on the day that the Foreign Relations Committee was going to put it to a vote, the President withdrew the nomination, and then a week later he recess appoints Sam Fox to that very same post. Now you’ve got some Democrats in the Senate calling it an abuse of the recess appointment authority. MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I, of course, certainly would disagree with that. It’s certainly a presidential prerogative. But I think it was clear that people were putting the politics over the policy of needing to get an ambassador into Brussels. And so the President took his action there to get our ambassador in place — a qualified individual. Q Are you saying that the Senate Committee
