BRAC Commission Members
2005 BRAC COMMISSIONERS
- Anthony J. Principi (CA) — former Secretary of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Naval Academy graduate, as Chairman [nominated by President Bush]
- Rep. James Bilbray — former U.S. Representative, D-NV (1987-1995) [Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)]
- Philip E. Coyle III (CA) — former assistant secretary of defense and director of Operational Test and Evaluation, 1994 to 2001. [House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)]
- Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. (VA) — former commander of Joint Forces Command [Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)]
- Rep. James V. Hansen — former U.S. Representative, R-UT (1981-2003) [House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)]
- Army Gen. James T. Hill (FL) — former head of U.S. Southern Command [*]
- Air Force Gen. Lloyd W. Newton (CT) – Former Assistant Vice-Chief of Staff [*]
- Samuel K. Skinner (IL) — former President George Bush’s chief of staff [Hastert]
- Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner — former Air Force director of nursing services [*]
- The name in “[]” indicates by whom each individual was nominated.
BACKGROUND
On March 15, 2005, President George W. Bush submitted to the U.S. Senate for confirmation his list of nominees to serve as members of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Under current law the President nominates nine individuals, three of his own choosing, two each selected by the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House, and one each by the House and Senate Minority leaders. Nominations must be submitted by the March 15 deadline, or the closure process stops.
President Bush nominated former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi to chair the BRAC commission. Confirmation hearings for Mr. Principi were held before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 15, and his nomination was sent to the Senate floor on March 17. The full Senate failed to act on his nomination prior to recessing for two weeks on March 18.
On March 31 “Congress Daily” reported that Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) had placed a hold on Mr. Principi’s nomination, and planned on doing so on the nominations of the eight remaining prospective commissioners, effectively halting the BRAC process. Senator Lott has been a vocal opponent of base closures, and sponsored an amendment last year that was narrowly defeated, which would have delayed the 2005 BRAC round by a minimum of two years.
In response, on April 1 President Bush announced that he was using his power to make recess appointments to name the nine commission members. The nine individuals he appointed were the same he nominated on March 15 with the exception of Gen. Newton, who was appointed in the place of Army Lt. Gen. Claude M. Kicklighter, a former assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs. Gen. Kicklighter, in turn, was viewed as a temporary fill-in on the list named to replace Army Gen. John G. Coburn, who had originally been proposed for nomination by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), but later dropped due to a possible conflict of interest. Gen. Kicklighter’s inclusion was viewed as the result of President Bush having to meet the March 15 deadline for naming of his nominees.
The U.S. Constitution gives the President the right to make recess appointments of individuals to positions that require the “advice and consent” of the Senate, i.e. that are subject to Senate confirmation. Such appointments are usually made in emergency situations, but in this case they were viewed as a way to circumvent Sen. Lott’s efforts to derail the BRAC process. Recess appointments are valid through the end of the current session, or until another nominee can be approved via the normal confirmation process, whichever comes first.