Show Longing for the land of beer and chocol chocolate te Al AI Kamen The Washington Post One of President Bushs Bush's most profile high-profile recess appointees Ambassador t to the European Union C. C Boyden Gray is back in Washington and for the moment out of a job Gray was given a recess appointment to the Brussels job two years ago after then- then minority Senate Democrats blocked his confirmation Gray White House c counsel under Bush I had infuriated Democrats by leading a campaign for confirmation of several conservative Bush judicial nominations That appointment expired last week and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid D Nev has effectively eliminated the presidential power to make recess appointments But Gray still may be returning to Brussels There is buzz that the White House wants to name Gray as Bushs Bush's special envoy to the European Union a position that doesn't require Senate confirmation and apparently would not give him supervisory authority over mission officials Wait a minute Didn't Bushs Bush's first National Security Presidential Directive I 1 abolish all these special envoys That may mean Secretary of State Rice has has has' hasto to give special permission for Grays Gray's new appointment Gray probably is allowed to have an office at the mission hey the ambassadors ambassador's office is empty but its it's unclear whether hell he'll live in the ambassadors ambassador's residence A section in the State Departments Department's manual appears to say he cant Of course Gray heir to toa toa toa a tobacco fortune can afford to rent a decent condo or a palace for the next year Reid through a spokesman said this week that he strongly opposes giving Gray all the perks of a position he no longer holds that such a move would violate the spirit of a recent White Senate-White House agreement on recess appointments and that it may have reverberations in terms of the White Houses House's ability to actually confirm ambassadors As the election nears of course that ability is minimal at best There remains the question of why Gray a powered high-powered Washington lawyer and policy wants to go back to the oft- oft somnolent EU job Maybe he likes Brussels Maybe its it's near Paris |