Clinton Appoints Lee to Civil Rights Job

ByABC News
August 3, 2000, 7:28 PM

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 3 -- President Clinton removed acting from BillLann Lees job title at the Justice Department, appointing himtoday as assistant attorney general for civil rights during acongressional recess.

The White House announcement, made without comment while Clintonwas playing golf, comes nearly three years after the presidentnamed Lee as his main civil rights enforcer on an acting basis tocircumvent heavy Republican opposition.

Todays action allows Lee to hold the post through the end ofClintons term in January without sending his nomination toCongress for approval.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking Democrat on the SenateJudiciary Committee, said Republican recalcitrance forced Clintonto give Lee a recess appointment.

The way they have treated Bill Lann Lee has been petty andsteeped in partisan vinegar, Leahy said. It has been a directinsult to him and to all who care about civil rights enforcement.

Accusation of Partisan PoliticsSenate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, whose committeewould have sat in judgment on a Lee nomination, said Clinton wasthe one playing partisan politics, installing Lee during theRepublican National Convention.

The timing of this decision serves as further evidence of whatwe have come to know is true: The Clinton-Gore White House isintent on dividing our people rather than uniting us for the commongood, Hatch said. He added that he personally likes Lee andwould support him in any number of positions.

Clinton notified Senate leaders late last year that he mightinstall 13 languishing nominations through recess appointments,so named because they are done while Congress is out of session.

Lees nomination was among five vigorously opposed by a group ofRepublicans who indicated they might retaliate against recessappointments by blocking all judicial nominees for the rest ofClintons term, which ends Jan. 20.

Other Appointments, TooThe president also appointed another of those five today,making Sally Katzen deputy director for management at the Office ofManagement and Budget.