"Not in the history of the United Nations Representatives have we ever had
a recess appointment, somebody who couldn't get through a nomination in
the senate, and I think that that means that we will have less
credibility" Senator Obama / August 2, 2005
Appointments by the Obama administration
On March 27, 2010, President Barack Obama made his first recess
appointments with 15 appointees to boards and agencies including the
controversial choice of union lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor
Relations Board, Alan D. Bersin to be a commissioner of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, Chai R. Feldblum to be a commissioner of Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, Victoria A. Lipnic to be a commissioner
of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Francisco "Frank" J. S?nchez
to be undersecretary of International Trade, Department of Commerce.[14]
Several of the nominees, including Jill Long Thompson, Chai Feldblum, Mark
Pearce, Victoria Lipnic, P. David Lopez and Jacqueline Berrien, later were
confirmed by the full Senate during 2010, while several others, including
Islam A. Siddiqui and Michael W. Punke, were confirmed in 2011.
On July 7, 2010, Obama made three more recess appointments: Donald Berwick
to be the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
Joshua Gotbaum to be a director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation; and Philip E. Coyle III to be Associate Director for National
Security and International Affairs in the Office of Science and Technology
Policy in the Executive Office of the President.[15] Of the three
appointments, Berwick's was highly controversial, because his nomination
had not been vetted by the United States Senate Committee on Finance and
because those in opposition to the move suggested that Obama was trying to
avoid tough questions about the recently passed healthcare reform law.[16]
Of the three, Gotbaum later was given full confirmation by the Senate.
On August 19, 2010, Obama made four recess appointments: Mari Carmen
Aponte to be Chief of Mission for El Salvador; Elisabeth Hagen to be Under
Secretary for Food Safety in the United States Department of Agriculture;
Winslow Sargeant to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy in the Small Business
Administration; and Richard Sorian to be Assistant Secretary for Public
Affairs in the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[17]
Hagen was confirmed by the Senate on September 16, 2010; Sargeant on
November 21, 2011 [18], Aponte left her post on December 31, 2011 after
failing to get a Senate majority on a cloture vote[19][20], Sorian
withdrew December 16, 2011 after failing to get Senate approval[21].
On December 29, 2010, Obama made six recess appointments: James M. Cole to
be U.S. Deputy Attorney General, William J. Boarman to be United States
Public Printer, Matthew Bryza to be U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, Robert
Stephen Ford to be U.S. ambassador to Syria, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr.
to be U.S. ambassador to Turkey, and Norman L. Eisen to be U.S. ambassador
to the Czech Republic.[22] Of the six, Ricciardone was blocked by Sen. Sam
Brownback, who contended that Ricciardone was not sufficiently supportive
of human rights while previously stationed in Cairo.[23] Bryza faced
opposition in the Armenian-American community due to his unusually close
ties to the Azerbaijan government, Ford was blocked by senators because of
concerns that restoring an envoy to Damascus would be seen by Syrians as a
reward for supporting terrorism and Eisen was seen as a long time critic
of Republicans. However, in many regards, Cole was the highest-profile
recess appointee, and Senate Republicans had blocked a vote on his
nomination over his activities as an independent consultant at American
International Group during its near-collapse and over previous comments
about terrorism.[24] Cole later received full Senate confirmation, on June
28, 2011, while Ford and Ricciardone won full Senate confirmation on
October 3 and October 4, 2011, respectively. The Senate confirmed Eisen on
December 12, 2011.[25]
On January 4, 2012, Barack Obama made four pro forma appointments: Richard
Cordray to serve as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and
appointed three new members to the National Labor Relations Board.
How do thee spell arrogance? Let me count the ways??airs, aloofness,
audacity, bluster, braggadocio, brass, cheek, chutzpah*, conceit,
conceitedness, contemptuousness, crust, disdain, disdainfulness, ego,
egotism, gall, haughtiness, hauteur, high-handedness, hubris,
imperiousness, insolence, loftiness, nerve, ostentation, overbearance,
pomposity, pompousness, presumption, pretension, pretentiousness, pride,
priggishness, scornfulness, self-importance, self-love, smugness,
superciliousness, swagger, vanity.
