Bush Recess Appointee To Obama: Make Recess Appointments

John Bolton, President Bush's most high-profile recess appointee, urged President Obama on Friday to use similar authority to move some of his own nominees into administration jobs.

Bolton, an extreme conservative, was blocked by Democrats. Bush appointed him as the Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations during an August recess. He served until December 2006.

Bolton told HuffPost during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference that being a recess appointee did not diminish his effectiveness.

"I don't think that there's any difference in a person's ability to function, whether they're there on a recess appointment or not," he said. "The Constitution provides for it and I'd be more than happy to see the president exercise his constitutional prerogatives and make some recess appointments."

Bolton said that he could have continued on in his position, even though his appointment expired, had he wanted to.

Asked whether there was a statutory hangup that would have required him to work without pay, he said, "No, I could have gotten another appointment. I decided to leave because I just felt it was better to be out of the administration, because I was disagreeing with the policy on a range of issues, from Iran to North Korea and the Middle East."