The Wall Street Journal (subscription) is reporting President Bush will recess appoint Susan Dudley to be White House regulatory czar, and that the move is likely to occur today. Meanwhile, the Washington Post's "In the Loop" column is reporting Sen. Joe Lieberman's committee in charge of the nomination will move to consider Dudley sometime after the recess. Reg•Watch reported similar rumors last week. What gives? Why would Bush make a recess appointment if the nomination is likely to proceed in the normal fashion? Reg•Watch has no choice but to cynically assume Bush is circumventing the Senate instead of leaving Dudley's confirmation to chance. Dudley's nomination stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate in 2006, and confirmation by the new Senate is far from a sure thing. The only way to ensure Dudley can push her anti-regulatory agenda as head of the powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is to appoint her during a Congressional recess. Surely such underhanded political maneuvering is not what the founding fathers had in mind when they provided the president with recess appointment power.