Obama Makes Recess Appointments. GOP Outraged

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 30, 2010 3:40PM

President Obama used the congressional recess to appoint six people to government positions yesterday. Among the six recess appointments was James Cole as deputy Attorney General.

Cole's nomination was held up by GOP Senate leaders due to his role as an independent consultant for AIG during its collapse and subsequent government bailout two years ago. Senate Republicans said confidentiality agreements prevented them from finding out about Cole's involvement with AIG. Others, like Sen. Jeff Sessions, were concerned about Cole's position that terror suspects should be tried in the courts and not military tribunals.

Obama's recess appointments received the appropriate amount of outrage from GOP leaders. New York congressman Peter King called Cole's appointment "absolutely shocking." "The appointment indicates that the Obama Administration continues to try to implement its dangerous policies of treating Islamic terrorism as a criminal matter.”