Despite protests from Muslim groups, President Bush is expected to sidestep Congress and directly appoint controversial Middle East analyst Daniel Pipes to the federally funded U.S. Institute of Peace.

Congressional sources told Reuters yesterday Pipes will receive a recess appointment from Bush.

Pipes’ nomination had been stalled in the Senate for months.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called the move “a defeat for democracy and an affront to Muslims, Arab Americans and all those who seek peace. Hooper went on to say, “Pipes’ appointment would call into question all of President Bush’s previous statements claiming that the war on terrorism is not an attack on Islam.”

Pipes has been called the country’s leading Islamophobe. He claims up to 15 percent of Muslims are “potential killers.” He says Muslim government police officers, soldiers and diplomats “need to be watched for connections to terrorism.”