Recess Appointment for Bolton to the UN? Challenge Recess Appointments!

It would let him serve as US Ambassador through January 2007. Next recess is for the July 4 weekend, and then the traditional "Holy Mother! It's Humid!" August recess. Dems are demanding Bolton's past requests for classified information, to determine how responsible his handling of such are, and Rice and Bush have refused to hand them over, several times.

If Bush goes to a recess appointment, the Democrats should challenge the Presidential recess appointment power. This power is granted in Article 1 section 2 of the 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.

This is interpreted as meaning the President may appoint someone to an office without Senate's consent during a Senate recess. However, that's not how I read it. It reads pretty clearly to me that the appointment may happen if the vacancy occurs ("happen") during the recess -- that is, if the Senate were in recess, the UN Ambassador dies, the President has the power to immediately fill the seat. But that's not how it's been interpreted historically. It has been interpreted to mean that if the Senate is in recess ,the president may fill any vacancy which normally would require their advice and consent, regardless of when that vacancy happened.

Seems wrong to me. Seems like this would be a good time to ask the courts to clear up the matter. I'm sure strict constuctionists like Scalia and Thomas would read it the way I do.

7:14pm Update: Bolton nomination is stopped again in the Senate. DEms filibustered it.