Bush Makes Recess Appointment of Chief Justice?

Will President Bush make a recess appointment to the Position of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the US before noon on Tuesday, September 6th?

He could. By law it would be legal, and it has been done in the past.

How about Justice Scalia, recess appointed to the Chief Justice’s position until January of 2007, then is either approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee or not. If not, he would not lose his seat on the Court; he’d merely slip back down the pecking order to resume his seat as a Justice of the Supreme Court. (Remember, he was appointed for life!)

There is a lot of speculation on just what the President will do. It is certainly possible to start the court next month with eight members rather than the normal nine. However, the court is reluctant to take cases it feels might wind-up in a four to four tie vote. So, those cases will stand, as they are, with the verdict of the lower court standing as the final ruling.

If the President goes with a recess appointment it is likely he will appoint someone who has already been through the vetting process and the fires of the confirmation hearings. That, then, would narrow his choices, somewhat. Those being looked at, as possible recess appointments, are: Judges Luttig, Clement, Jones, or Owens. Any of these four judges would satisfy the right, either in the role of Chief Justice or just plain Justice.

Now, none of this may happen. There is reason to believe that it won’t. My personal feeling is that the President will go the conventional way and eschew a recess appointment. But, then, I have been fooled many times in the past.

The Supreme Court convenes on the first Monday in October, so time is definitely growing short. Even though nobody is in the pool yet, the Democrats smell fresh meat and are circling like blood sniffing sharks awaiting an opportunity to pounce and try “Borking” another candidate.

Now, there’s a likely candidate for a recess appointment… Judge Bork!

No matter what the President chooses, the left is going to explode and self emulate, so we should just get out of the way and allow them to self-destruct.
Conservatives have the numbers to get whomever they want. They want a conservative Chief Justice and Associate Justice. If the so-called “Nuclear Option” must be used in the Senate, then so be it.

That will then leave only one more seat to fill to make it a conservative majority on the court. If Conservatives manage that, they will have reached a 40+-year goal.

Here’s to Conservative Victory on the US Supreme Court!

“Longstreet”