Other Bush aides given recess appointments could face similar fates. At the Defense Department the temporary appointment of Peter Flory, an assistant secretary whose brief includes nonproliferation and Star Wars policies, also expires by the end of this year. Senate Dems blocked a vote on his confirmation last year, complaining that Flory had dealings in 2002 with Ahmad Chalabi’s controversial Iraqi National Congress, and that the Pentagon was stonewalling Senate requests for documents. Other recess appointees who need Senate approval to keep their jobs beyond the end of next year include Julie Myers, head of Homeland Security’s plainclothes investigation bureau; State Department refugee coordinator Ellen Sauerbrey, and C. Boyden Gray, U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman, said: “President Bush is encouraging members of the Senate to confirm these highly qualified individuals as soon as possible.”
