Recessional
The Continuing Bushy Adventures of Mr. Moustache

With John Bolton's appointment by President Bush today while Congress enjoys its August recess, Mrs F was curious about what a recess appointment is all about. Here's some info from Wikipedia:

A recess appointment occurs when the President of the United States fills a vacant Federal position during a recess of the United States Senate. The commission or appointment must be ratified (i.e. approved) by the Senate by the end of the next session, or the position becomes vacant again. Recess appointments are authorized by Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution: "The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session." Presidents have sometimes used recess appointments to fill vacancies with individuals who might prove difficult to confirm, or who face staunch opposition within the Senate. The recess appointment may be made in hopes that, by the next session, opposition will have diminished. In recent years, however, a recess appointment has tended to harden the attitude of the opposition party, and confirmation then becomes even more difficult. [...] President Bill Clinton made a recess appointment of Bill Lan Lee as assistant attorney general for civil rights, when it became clear that Lee's strong support of affirmative action would lead to Senate opposition. Similarly, when the Senate did not vote on his nomination of James Hormel to be Ambassador to Luxembourg, Clinton made a recess appointment. Many people felt that the Senate's inaction was because Hormel was an openly gay person, and when he was appointed became the first such person to serve as a U.S. ambassador. Clinton made 140 recess appointments over two terms. President George W. Bush appointed several judges to U.S. courts of appeals using recess appointments after their nominations were subjected to a Senate filibuster by opposition Democrats. One, Judge Charles Pickering of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, withdrew his name from consideration for renomination when his recess appointment expired. As of July 31, 2005, Bush has made 105 recess appointments. On August 1, 2005, Bush made a recess appointment of John Bolton, to serve as U.S. representative to the United Nations. Bolton had also been the subject of a Senate filibuster. The filibuster concerns documents, which the White House refused to release, which Democrats suggested may contain proof of Bolton's abusive treatment and coercion of staff members, or of his improper use of National Security Agency communications intercepts regarding U.S. citizens.

Here's a bit more from a 1999 article in Slate (wow--I'd forgotten it's been around that long), including a bit more on the Bill Lan Lee strategem:

The provision was originally created to fill vacancies that actually occurred during a recess, but it has since morphed into an all-purpose executive tool to counter Senate intransigence. President Kennedy, for instance, appointed Thurgood Marshall to the bench during a recess because he feared opposition from Southern senators. By the time Marshall's nomination came before the Senate, that resistance had been beaten back. [...] When Congress took a recess in 1997 and warned Clinton not to appoint controversial NAACP lawyer Bill Lann Lee to the Justice Department while it was gone, the president appointed Lee as an acting official instead of making a recess appointment. And since acting officials must be employed by the DOJ at the time of appointment, Lee was first hired as deputy assistant attorney general, which requires no confirmation, and later that day promoted to the position for which he had been nominated -- assistant attorney general for civil rights -- in an acting capacity. Congress closed this loophole as part of last year's budget deal. Meanwhile, Lee has been "acting" in that position for more than 500 days.