Bush appoints Otto Reich over Senator Dodd's objections
Read and comment on this story from CNN that President Bush has given a recess appointment to Otto Reich as the State Department's top diplomat for the Western Hemisphere. President Bush makes this appointment over the long standing objections of Senator Dodd (shown in the photo above) because of Reich's previous position in the Reagan administration's State Department Office of Public Diplomacy, which was accused of running an illegal, covert "propaganda" campaign to support the administration's backing of Nicaragua's Contra rebels. Senator Dodd of Connecticut served as a PCV in the Dominican Republic. Read the full story at:
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Bush makes two recess appointments
January 11, 2002 Posted: 2:52 PM EST (1952 GMT)
By John King CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush is making recess appointments to name Eugene Scalia as solicitor general of the Labor Department and Otto Reich as the State Department's top diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, senior administration officials told CNN on Friday.
Both nominations have been stalled in the Senate because of Democratic objections, and the president's use of his recess appointment authority is certain to result in a clash with congressional Democrats, who hold the majority in the upper chamber.
Both appointments were to be announced later Friday, and would place Scalia and Reich in their jobs until Congress adjourns for the year. The White House will urge the Senate to take up the nominations in the meantime, senior officials said.
Scalia will be the Labor Department's top legal adviser. He is the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Reich has been tabbed to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs. He previously worked in the Reagan administration's State Department Office of Public Diplomacy, which was accused of running an illegal, covert "propaganda" campaign to support the administration's backing of Nicaragua's Contra rebels.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut has raised objections to Reich's ties to conservative critics of the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro. Reich served as ambassador to Venezuela from 1986 to 1989.
The president has the authority to use a "recess appointment" to fill executive branch positions at times the Congress is not in session.
"The Senate's failure to act on these nominations leaves the president no option but to exercise his constitutional right to appoint them," a senior administration official said. Both will begin work within days, the official said.
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