Harry Reid ready to play at recess

Ready to play

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used to consider recess appointments “an end run around the Senate and the Constitution” — so much so that he kept the chamber open during breaks to prevent President George W. Bush from making any more of them.

But with a Democrat in the White House, and Republicans blocking executive branch nominees, Reid and his allies are starting to sing a different tune.

Reid said last week that he’s “tried hard” to avoid the need for President Barack Obama to make recess appointments, but he added: “What alternative do we have?

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has placed a blanket hold on all of Obama’s pending executive branch nominees — a senatorial prerogative that leaves Democrats unable to confirm nominees without first getting 60 votes on time-consuming cloture motions.

A senior Democratic aide calls Shelby’s move a “perversion of senatorial courtesy” that “makes recess appointments fair game.”