JURIST - Paper Chase: BREAKING NEWS - Bush puts Pryor on federal bench via recess appointment

AP is reporting that President Bush has used a recess appointment to put Alabama Attorney General William Pryor on the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The President recently used the same technique of invoking a judicial emergency to get controversial nominee Charles Pickering Sr. on the US Fifth Cicruit Court of Appeals without Senate approval.

UPDATE: In a statement released this afternoon by the White House, President Bush said:

Attorney General Pryor was nominated more than 10 months ago, but still has not received an up-or-down vote in the Senate. A bipartisan majority of Senators supports his confirmation. If Attorney General Pryor were given a vote on the floor of the Senate, he would be confirmed. But a minority of Democratic Senators has been using unprecedented obstructionist tactics to prevent him and other qualified nominees from receiving up-or-down votes. Their tactics are inconsistent with the Senate's constitutional responsibility and are hurting our judicial system.

Read the full text of the President's announcement here.