The Tompkins County Republicans reportedly adopted a resolution including the following:
… the Tompkins County Republican Party urges our congressional leaders to vigorously use legal challenges, budget reconciliation, funding power, the treaty power, altering filibuster rules if necessary, and refusal to bring to the floor of the Senate any presidential appointments requiring confirmation while not recessing to avoid presidential interim appointments.
Evidently Tompkins County Republican Party has no program other than obstruction nor does their resolution show much respect for the Constitution which they claim to value. Reportedly the Executive Committee voted for this resolution 7-5; it is somewhat heartening that there may be as many as five adults on the Executive Committee.
- The Constitution gives the President the power to make recess appointments; use of pro-forma sessions to thwart the President conflicts with the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution.
- The Constitution requires the Senate to act to confirm or reject Presidential appointments. It doesn’t provide for the Senate to hold appointments hostage.
It would be interesting to know the views of the five dissenters; do they recognize that their leaders have struggled to hold their badly divided party together while avoiding silly, self-destructive acts?
© William Hungerford – March 2015
New NY 23rd 
This is a confusing blog submission, you start off by praising the five who voted against this as “the only adults in the room”, but end it by asking if they understand what a bad job their leaders have done. Was that not the entire point of the resolution?
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Thanks for your comment; in my opinion, the point of the resolution is unclear. The “Ithaca Voice” article quotes one Executive Committee member:
This no confidence vote sends a message that is loud and clear. A message that should resonate with Republicans across the state. We demand that our elected officials abide by the Constitution and the Republican Platform,
My view is that the Tompkins County Republican Party Executive Committee asks the GOP senior leadership to ignore the Constitution plunging government into chaos.
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Republicans in Tompkins County? OMG, we’re being infiltrated!
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Extreme Ithaca Conservatives?
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Ha, ha, William!
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