Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (Nov. 23–30, 2007)

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Following a breakdown in negotiations over presidential appointees, the spectacle that is the pro forma session of Congress, as described in the Washington Post, continues this week:

Two days before Thanksgiving the Senate had a 22-second session, a fleeting moment in the life of an occasionally droning body but plenty of time for majority Democrats to keep President Bush from making "recess" appointments.

Senators have been taking turns standing sentry duty this week — just to prevent Bush from circumventing the confirmation process by immediately installing people in federal posts while the chamber is in recess. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who carried out that less than glamorous task Tuesday, is a relative newcomer, a low-ranking freshman and a senator who lives just minutes from the Capitol; he wielded his gavel before an empty chamber Tuesday, devoid of senators and even the young pages who serve as messengers.

"I'd much rather be doing this than allow the president to skirt the confirmation process in the Senate," Webb said in a statement. "This is an exercise in protecting the Constitution and our constitutional process."

The pro forma session takes advantage of Constitutional rules requiring the consent of one chamber if the other will adjourn for more than three days. If the Senate were to adjourn, the president could name people to several positions within the executive branch, as well as naming judges to the federal bench. The appointees could then serve through the remainder of Bush's term in office.

So, what to expect when Congress resumes its normal schedule on Dec. 3?

The budget battle we blogged about last week still looms on the horizon. We'll update you with the latest info on appropriations when news breaks, but head over to the FY 2008 U.S. federal budget page to see what's been passed, what was vetoed, and what's coming next.

In other showdown news, Democratic leaders are still talking tough on Iraq War funding. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the defense appropriations committee, have signaled no additional funding for the conflict will be approved until President Bush shifts war policy toward an exit. You can read more about the funding fight, which has flared up several times this year, at our Congressional actions to end the Iraq War page.