Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Consent
Posted by:
Hammer / 12:34 PM
Smilin' Norm still
loves the nuclear option:
"Elections have consequences, and the president won," said Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record) (R-Minn.). "We have advise and consent, not advise and filibuster."
The Constitution says this:
[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Smilin' Norm seems to think that means the Senate shall -- or must -- consent to the President's nominations. That's a unique reading, to be sure. The Constitution balances one branch's powers against the others. The President is required to win the consent of the Senate. So far Bush has been utterly unable to do so, because his nominees are more extreme than
Pornograffitti.