Democratic senators yesterday demanded an investigation into whether US President George W. Bush legally appointed his campaign donor Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium. In 2004, businessman Fox, who heads the Republican Jewish Coalition, donated $50,000 to one of the military veterans' organizations. She soon baselessly stated that the president's main rival, Senator John Kerry, had overestimated his service time in Vietnam, which was one of the reasons for the defeat of the Democratic candidate. Realizing that the Senate, now controlled by Democrats, would not confirm Fox, Bush waited until the upper house of Congress left for a week-long recess and exercised the constitutional right to intersession appointment. Democratic Senator Chris Dodd believes that the president has the right to make personnel decisions without the approval of the Senate only when it goes on a four-week summer vacation. Fox, 77, who is likely to remain ambassador until Bush's presidency ends in 2008, said he was "thrilled and honored" by the appointment.
