(12-29) 13:57 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) -- President Barak Obama has bypassed the Senate and directly appointed four new U.S. ambassadors whose nominations had been stalled or blocked by lawmakers for months.
The White House announced Wednesday that Obama would use his power to make recess appointments to fill envoy posts to Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Syria and Turkey. Recess appointments are made when the Senate is not in session and last only until the end of the next session of Congress.
Senators had not acted to confirm the nominees for various reasons, including questions about their qualifications. In the case of the new envoy to Syria, Robert Ford, some senators said they believed sending an ambassador to the country would reward it for bad behavior.
