Bush blasts Senate over pro forma sessions

President Bush Monday welcomed back Congress by criticizing Democrats for their priorities and blasting the Senate for using a procedural maneuver to prevent him from making recess appointments.

{mosads}“In a political maneuver designed to block my ability to make recess appointments, congressional leaders arranged for a senator to come in every three days or so, bang a gavel, wait for about 30 seconds, bang a gavel again, and then leave,” Bush said. “Under the Senate rules, this counts as a full day. If 30 seconds is a full day, no wonder Congress has got a lot of work to do.”

Senate Democrats had held pro forma sessions throughout the Thanksgiving break to keep the Senate “in session” and block Bush from making recess appointments.

Bush also criticized the Democrats’ continued efforts to end the war in Iraq. He reiterated threats made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that a failure to get war funds would force the Pentagon to soon begin sending out layoff notices.

The president also called on Congress to pass a permanent update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that is to his liking, a fix that will shield taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax, and the bulk of fiscal year 2008 spending bills that remains undone.