Games politicians play

IN ELEMENTARY school, recess is a time for fun and games. The same is true, unfortunately, in the nation’s capital. President Bush last week took advantage of a Senate recess to appoint three controversial figures to positions -- including a major ambassadorship -- that ordinarily require confirmation.

In the spirit of the playground, Vice President Dick Cheney yukked it up with talk show host Rush Limbaugh about how the administration had gone around the Democratic-controlled Senate, which returned this week. “You go on vacation, this is what happens to you,” joked Limbaugh. “If you’re a Democrat,” Cheney replied.

Sam Fox, the new ambassador to Belgium, is a businessman and GOP fundraiser who contributed $50,000 to the mendacious Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth advertising effort against 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass). Andrew G. Biggs, named deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, is a proponent of private retirement accounts. Susan E. Dudley, appointed administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House Office of Management and Budget, generally advocates for less regulation.

The issue is not whether Fox is a “great American” (Limbaugh’s term) or whether the views of Biggs and Dudley are outside the mainstream or just outside the box. The issue is fidelity to the framers’ vision of checks and balances.

Recess appointments are allowed by the Constitution, but they are a vestige of an era when it could take weeks for enough senators to travel to Washington to get a quorum. In the 21st century, recess appointments violate the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution’s separation of powers.

That hasn’t stopped presidents from both parties from resorting to this gimmick to get around the Senate. But this administration seems to take a schoolboy pleasure in thumbing its nose at the Senate. It should grow up.