ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Senate Rules — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

As already mentioned in this blog, Senator Salazar has written a letter calling upon President Bush to withdraw his renominees, lest Senator Salazar or some of his fellow senators feel "animosity" toward the president (presumably that excludes Senator Byrd who already feels animosity). Certainly President Bush should write a response, and this is one blogger who thinks he ought to do so in the form of an official letter to the entire upper house of Congress.

The president's letter to the Senate could reassure senators like Salazar that the president has made up his mind to LOVE congress, no matter how much animosity comes from that direction. "Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs," wrote Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre. So true. (And let's not forget how much less animosity there would be in the world if the U.S. Supreme Court hadn't yesterday commuted the death sentences of our country's most animosity-filled 16- and 17-year-olds.)

Most importantly, the president's letter to the Senate ought to spell out for the Dems that he firmly and irrevocably has made up his mind not to withdraw the renominees before the Senate decides whether to advise and consent. Period. Then any rational court of law in the United States, and any rational presiding officer of the Senate, would have to acknowledge that the continuing endless Democratic delay is purely a tactic to reject the nominations by forcing them to expire, in plain and obvious violation of US Senate Rule 31 (which says that a majority vote must occur "when a nomination is confirmed .... or rejected by the Senate"). The Constitution gives the president a pocket veto for legislation, whereas the Senate minority has no legitimate pocket veto for nominations.