With Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on his way out, is the White House seriously floating the possibility of making a recess appointment for his successor? You tell me.

Fielding and White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten are leading the effort to draft and cull a list of potential nominees. Officials familiar with the process said that the White House has begun reaching out to potential candidates to gauge their interest in the job.

"They're less concerned about confirmability and more concerned about the candidate's ability to steer affairs in away that is consistent with good problem-solving down the road,"said a lawyer familiar with the selection process. "That means some combination of being a straight arrow and having a forceful presence, along with the diplomatic skills necessary to deal with the Hill." [emphasis added]

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this quote. Perhaps it is not in fact a trial balloon. Fair enough. But then again I've watched this administration long enough to know that they do not usually make targeted leaks to the press without intention and that, what's more, they rarely, if ever, care about how their actions will play to Democrats on Capitol Hill (even now that the Democrats are in control over both chambers of Congress).

So if this is indeed a trial balloon, the White House must understand that a move to abuse the power of the recess appointment in this instance would be met with real repercussions. I have suggested that such a move would bring on an end to the confirmation process whatsoever for the remainder of George W. Bush's tenure, limiting the President's ability to appoint administration officials as well as judges, whose deleterious effects upon the nation would no doubt be felt for a significantly longer amount of time.

But if it is not a trial balloon and the Bush administration is merely indicating that they are not taking into consideration whether a nominee to head the Department of Justice would be confirmable by the Democratic Senate, then they are also going to be in for a rude awakening. Any attempt to nominate another Alberto Gonzales -- or even someone like Michael Chertoff -- must be and (hopefully) will be shut down on Capitol Hill, forcing the President to send up a more suitable name. Yes, the President has the prerogative to make nominations at his discretion -- but so, too, does the Senate have the right to weigh in on the matter in one direction or the other.

George W. Bush may have been able to play these games for a long time under Republican control of Congress, but no longer. The Democratic Congress should not and must not let him dictate his will on the American people.