Romney Can't Have His Fox

Published Apr 04 2007, 08:53 PM by David S. Bernstein

A week ago, George W. withdrew the nomination of Republican funder extraordinaire Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium, when it became clear that Senate Democrats were going to use his Swift Boat funding past to reject him. I posted at the time that this could allow Fox to start fundraising for Mitt Romney.

Alas for Romney, it is not to be. With the Senate on spring break, Bush today used his "recess appointment" power to give Fox the post without Senate review, "temporarily" -- meaning until the end of the next congressional session, which happens to coincide with the end of W.'s Presidency.

Bush also recess-appointed Andrew Biggs, a vocal proponent of Social Security privatization at the Cato Institute, to be Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; and Susan Dudley, an anti-regulation advocate at the Mercatur Center, to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget.