On December 31, 2007 the Senate adjourned sine die, concluding its first session.  In 2004, the Federalist Society released a paper by a group of lawyers surveying the arguments regarding the President’s power to make recess appointments to the federal judiciary.  A new supplement to that paper discusses a further issue not discussed in the original paper:  the President’s power to make recess appointments during a brief intersession recess.  (An intersession recess is the break between each formal session of Congress, while an intrasession recess is a temporary adjournment within a session of Congress.)

Editor’s Note:  Footnote 3 of the supplemental paper reflects uncertainty about whether the 110th Senate would adjourn its first session sine die and if so when.  This uncertainty has now been resolved as the Senate adjourned that session sine die on December 31, 2007.

Click HERE for the Addendum.

Click HERE to view the 2004 paper.

Below are links to three CRS reports also addressing various recess appointment issues:

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL31112.pdf  (Recess Appointments of Federal Judges)

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS21308.pdf (Recess Appointments:  Frequently Asked Questions)
 
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/50801.pdf (Recess Appointments:  A Legal Overview)