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From CNN:

Washington — President Obama announced Saturday he will make recess appointments of 15 nominees who are awaiting confirmation by the full Senate.

“The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees” to administration posts, Obama said in a written statement that also named the 15 individuals. “But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.

GALLERY: President Obama

“Most of the men and women whose appointments I am announcing today were approved by Senate committees months ago, yet still await a vote of the Senate. At a time of economic emergency, two top appointees to the Department of Treasury have been held up for nearly six months. I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.”

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod told CNN’s Candy Crowley on Saturday that the Senate had declined to vote on five of former President George W. Bush’s appointments at this point in his term, compared to 77 delayed appointments for Obama.

“The Republican Party has taken a position where they’re going to try and slow and block progress on all fronts, whether it’s legislation or appointments,” Axelrod said in an interview to be aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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