There was another recent article worth sharing, written by Frank Vyan Walton for the DailyKos. It’s an excellent compliment to Dr. Wang’s ‘Constitutional Hardball.’ Walton is advocating for an Obama recess appointment, I like the idea of the Daily Kos petition for Democratic Senators to actually vote Judge Garland onto the Supreme Court Jan 3rd. See the item following Walton’s piece. Still either one would be better than neither.
“Enough is enough. It’s time the Democrats stop bringing a butter-knife to the gun fight. It’s time to fight back, to finally get up when the bullies push you down and punch him right in the nose.”
Seems like a good bookend to be the last of my emergency 'window of opportunity' bootlegs. Don't get me wrong, I’m not going to stop writing or posting, or hoping, that never works for me either and I'll continue sharing the work of others, simply that I'm returning to not making exceptions conventional restraints,... after allowing Frank Walton's article to speak for how I'm feeling. A healthy democracy demands an informed and engaged citizenry - we need you now.
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Sunday, Dec 25, 2016
On his way out the Oval Office door there is one thing President Obama can do to give the do-less-than-nothing Congress a big stiff middle finger. Recess appoint Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court so sayeth the New Republic .
Come January, President Barack Obama will be consigned to the sidelines as Donald Trump occupies the Oval Office and begins the work of dismantling his legacy. But there is one action that Obama could take on January 3, 2017 that could hold off some of the worst potential abuses of a Trump administration for up to a year. Obama can appoint his nominee Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on that date, in between the two sessions of Congress.
Here’s how it would work. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states, “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate.” This has been used for Supreme Court vacancies before—William Brennan began his Court tenure with a recess appointment in 1956. Any appointments made in this fashion expire at the end of the next Senate session. So a Garland appointment on January 3 would last until December 2017, the end of the first session of the 115th Congress.
Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Obama would have to do it on the January 3rd, because the last time he did a recess appointment it was during a period that the Senate was holding pro-forma sessions, where they would be gaveled in, and then immediately out again by just one Senator every three days, specifically to block the President from making recess appointments. ...
