Don’t Discount a Fox
Defying Senate Democrats, President Bush gave a recess appointment yesterday to major Republican donor Sam Fox, a St. Louis businessman who recently stepped down as head of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Fox, who was appointed as ambassador to Belgium, had come under fire for contributing to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was to have voted on Fox’s nomination last week, when Bush withdrew it.
Two other recess appointments were also made yesterday. Susan E. Dudley, who had headed the anti-regulatory Mercatus Center at George Mason University, was appointed to oversee federal regulatory policy at the Office of Management and Budget. Andrew Biggs, an advocate of privatizing Social Security at the Cato Institute, was appointed to be deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration.