By PETER BAKER, New York Times
Published: February 12, 2010

In an effort to demonstrate forward momentum, the White House is also
drawing more attention to the sorts of actions taken regularly by
cabinet departments without much fanfare. The White House heavily
promoted an export initiative announced by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
last week and nearly $1 billion in health care technology grants
announced on Friday by Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services
secretary, and Hilda L. Solis, the labor secretary.

White House officials said the increased focus on executive authority
reflected a natural evolution from the first year to the second year of
any presidency.

"The challenges we had to address in 2009 ensured that the center of action
would be in Congress," said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications
director. "In 2010, executive actions will also play a key role in advancing

the agenda."

The use of executive authority during times of legislative inertia is
hardly new; former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush turned to
such powers at various moments in their presidencies, and Mr. Emanuel
was in the thick of carrying out the strategy during his days as a top
official in the Clinton White House.

But Mr. Obama has to be careful how he proceeds because he has been
critical of both Mr. Clinton's penchant for expending presidential
capital on small-bore initiatives, like school uniforms, and Mr. Bush's
expansive assertions of executive authority, like the secret program of
wiretapping without warrants.

Already, Mr. Obama has had to reconcile his campaign-trail criticism of
Mr. Bush for excessive use of so-called signing statements to bypass
parts of legislation with his own use of such tactics. After a
bipartisan furor in Congress last year, Mr. Obama stopped issuing such
signing statements, but aides said last month that he still reserves the
right to ignore sections of bills he considers unconstitutional if
objections have been lodged previously by the executive branch.

Another drawback of the executive power strategy is that actions taken
unilaterally by the executive branch may not be as enduring as decisions
made through acts of Congress signed into law by a president. For
instance, while the E.P.A. has been determined to have the authority to
regulate carbon emissions, the administration would rather have a
market-based system of pollution permits, called cap and trade, that
requires legislation.

Still, presidents have logged significant accomplishments through the
stroke of a pen. In 1996, on his own authority, Mr. Clinton turned a
2,600-square-mile section of southern Utah into the Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in what was called at the time
his boldest environmental move. Mr. Bush followed suit in 2006 by
designating a 140,000-square-mile stretch of islands and ocean near
Hawaii as the largest protected marine reserve in the world, in what
some see as his most lasting environmental achievement.

The use of executive power came to a head this week when Mr. Obama
confronted Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader,
about nominations held up in the Senate. In a meeting with Congressional
leaders at the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Obama turned to Mr. McConnell
and vowed to use his power to appoint officials during Senate recesses
if his nominations were not cleared.

By Thursday, the Senate had voted to confirm 27 of 63 nominations that
had been held up, and the White House declared victory. Two
administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said
Friday that the White House had drafted a list of about a dozen nominees
for the president to appoint during the recess that just began, but most
were among those cleared.

Mr. McConnell's office denied that the president's threat had anything
to do with the confirmations, pointing out that the Senate regularly
passes a batch of nominees before going on recess.

"All presidents get frustrated with the pace of nominations, and all
Congresses say they're doing their best, so it's not a surprise," said Don
Stewart, a spokesman for Mr. McConnell. "But the fact is nominees are being
confirmed, particularly those nominated since December."

The recess appointment power stems from the days when lawmakers were in
session only part of the year, but in modern times presidents have used
it to circumvent opposition in the Senate. Mr. Clinton made 139 recess
appointments, 95 of them to full-time positions, while Mr. Bush made
171, with 99 to full-time jobs. Mr. Obama has yet to make any.

Those given such appointments can serve until the end of the next
Congressional session. As a senator, Mr. Obama was less enamored with
recess appointments. When Mr. Bush used the power to install John R.
Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Obama called Mr. Bolton
"damaged goods."

But the White House argued that Mr. Obama's choices have been held up
more than Mr. Bush's and left open the prospect of giving recess
appointments to some of those still held up, including Craig Becker, a
labor lawyer whose nomination for a seat on the National Labor Relations
Board has been blocked.

"If the stalling tactics continue," said Robert Gibbs, the White House press

secretary, "he's not ruling out using recess appointments for anybody that
he's nominated."