Reply #12: Bush Sidesteps Senator's Objections, Appoints Base Closings Commission

[rainbow4321]

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/storiesNL.asp?whichpage=1&id=80672


President Bush, brushing aside a stall tactic by Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., appointed the nine-member commission that will determine military bases closings without waiting for Senate confirmation.

Bush made the appointments while the Senate was in recess, the White House announced Friday night. The recess appointments prevent delays as the commission prepares to make the first round of base closings in a decade.

Before it left for its spring recess the full Senate had been expected to vote on the nomination of Anthony J. Principi, former secretary of veterans affairs, as chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. The other commissioners, nominated by Bush on March 15, also required Senate confirmation.

However, Lott _ who opposes base closures and has pledged to protect military facilities in his home state _ placed a ``hold'' on Principi's nomination, according to aides and lobbyists speaking on condition of anonymity. The hold delayed voting on the nomination.