Senate Democrats Hold Pro-Forma Sessions Over Christmas Break

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This is to be the last political scuffle of the year between the White House and Congress. Currently, the Republican Party has the White House while the Democratic Party has Congress. The scuffle had played out on the floor of the United States Senate on Friday. Most of the senators had already left the Capitol for the Christmas holiday.

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) opened and then immediately gaveled closed the Senate in one of the brief pro forma sessions. This was to block President George W. Bush from naming recess appointments deemed controversial.

There is a constitutional mechanism that allows for the president during recesses in Congress to fill top government posts up to a year. In that fashion, the president can avoid Senate confirmations.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on late Wednesday that he would keep the Senate open with these sessions through mid-January. Recently, there have been tense talks that broke down with the White House on a deal.

The deal would have allowed the president to make dozens of these appointments if he agreed not to appoint one controversial official. The official would be Steven Bradbury to be the permanent head at the Department of Justice in the Office of Legal Counsel.

Bush refused to accept the offer. In response, Reid refused to approve Bradbury over concerns by the Democrats about his involvement in crafting legal opinions for the administration in regards to interrogation techniques on those suspected of terror.

Both Webb and Reed will not be the only other senators with the task of holding these pro forma sessions. Other Democratic Senators such as: Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Cardin of Maryland, and Chuck Schumer of New York will all share the duty of holding these brief sessions.