Dems Preempt Bush Recess MovesIt’s gotten to be a common occurrence. When Congress has a scheduled recess, the Democratic leadership keeps the Senate (and sometimes the House) in pro forma session in order to prevent any administration recess tomfoolery.
The main concern, of course, has been that the president would push through controversial recess appointments. But this time around, the Politico reports, a main concern is that the administration would try a coup de théâtre — i.e. use the president’s power to force the House into special session as a way of putting further pressure on the House Dem leadership to pass the Senate’s surveillance bill and win that coveted retroactive immunity for the telecoms:
Pelosi, fearing that Bush would try to capitalize on the House’s absence to call Congress back into a special session, scheduled two pro forma sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. The Senate will do the same at the same time. Since neither chamber goes out for more than three days, Bush cannot take the dramatic step of calling the Congress back for the first special session since Harry Truman did it in 1948.
Not to worry, though, as you can be sure that the administration will find somehow, some way to issue periodical warnings about our imperiled nation this week. They seem to have taken a break on President’s Day, but we’ll let you know when they’re back at it.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the House and Senate judiciary and intelligence committees are negotiating a compromise bill. No word yet on how things are going.