In a Senate where the Democratic caucus now stands at 59 votes, this is just ridiculous.As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moves to ease a backlog of executive branch nominations, he suggested on Tuesday that he does not have the votes to bring up President Barack Obama's pick to run the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.
"Right now we're finding out when to do that," Reid said, responding to a question about the status of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen's nomination to the Justice post. "We need a couple Republican votes until we can get to 60."
Let's acknowledge at the outset that allowing a shrinking Senate minority to mandate 60 votes for confirmation is itself absurd. No president in American history has had to deal with this kind of obstructionism to put together the team he wants, staffing relatively unknown administration posts. It's obstructionism on an unprecedented scale and it's an unsustainable way for the political process to operate.
Let's also take a moment to note that Johnsen is an exceptional nominee, who is unquestionably qualified, and clearly deserves confirmation.
That said, what kind of show is Harry Reid running here? His caucus has 59 members, and Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana, a conservative Republican, has already endorsed Johnsen's nomination. We have Democratic senators who won't even let the president's choice for the OLC get a vote because she's pro-choice?
I know that Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.) oppose Johnsen's nomination. Fine, they can vote against her when the Senate votes on her confirmation. But denying Johnsen an up-or-down vote, because 15 years ago she provided legal counsel in support of legal reproductive rights, is farcical.
Christy Hardin Smith noted this morning, "This is a failure of leadership. Period." She's absolutely right.
- Christy Hardin Smith
What's the sticking point? There has been no concomitant push from Democratic leadership for her. None.
Worse, the White House has been nonexistent in plugging for a position that should have been at the top of their "to do" list given the problems that DOJ was already having trying to restore departments to their non-politicized norms. I have been trying to twist arms behind the scenes, but no more. I have had it.
Whitehouse and Leahy have been the only two Senators on Judiciary or elsewhere doing any push whatsoever. Her home state Senator Evan Bayh? Nonexistent.
Just last week, AG Holder said that confirming Dawn was his top priority in an appropriations subcommittee hearing. He was the first person from the WH team to say anything about her out loud since her nomination in terms of public hearings or reporting.
This is a failure of leadership. Period.
From Harry Reid, from Dick Durbin, from Chuck Schumer...none of whom have done their jobs on arm twisting and have just allowed this to be a "well, if the White House wants her, they can do the work" game of chicken. And the White House? Nary a peep beyond that recent push from Holder. You think President Obama couldn't pick up a phone and twist a few arms along with his buddy Joe Biden? Yet that has not happened from everything I have heard.
Do I sound pissed? Why yes, I do. The rule of law actually means something beyond a convenient campaign slogan to me. And the nation's system of justice deserves better than benign neglect.
What's worse? I smell a capitulation deal on the other lingering nominations. I've got some calls out to ascertain whether this was a "you vote for these nominees and we'll leave Dawn Johnsen off the table until after the recess" quid pro quo between Reid and McConnell. Because I smell kabuki.
PFAW, NARAL, AFJ and NWLC have all pushed for Johnsen. Good for them. So have a handful of bloggers. Good for them, too.
But where is everyone else? This is the legal run-up to the SCOTUS nomination. The right-wing is using this as their test messaging case on abortion and national security boogah boogah scare tactics. If we ignore it or, worse, don't give a crap, do any of us think this simply goes away? Or does it get worse?
We have learned nothing the last eight years if we think that passive neglect in the face of crappy tactics is a winning strategy. And yet? Here we are.
Well I, for one, have had it. Senate Democratic Leadership and the Obama White House need to do their jobs and fight for a nominee the nation needs. Now. You know what to do.
Harry Reid: (202) 224-3542 (phone); 202-224-7327 (FAX)
Dick Durbin: (202) 224-2152 (phone); (202) 228-0400 (FAX)
Chuck Schumer: (202) 224-6542 (phone); (202) 228-3027 (FAX)
Pat Leahy: (202) 224-4242 (phone); (202) 224-3479 (FAX)
Evan Bayh: (202) 224-5623 (phone); (202) 228-1377 (FAX)
Benen: GOP OBSTRUCTIONISM BLOCK HAYES NOMINATION....
A little too often, the world's most deliberative body is a dysfunctional mess.
For the first time, Senate Republicans blocked a nominee of the Obama administration, mounting a filibuster against the appointment of David Hayes to be deputy secretary of the Interior Department in a dispute over oil and gas leases in Utah.
An attempt to force a final vote on Mr. Hayes's nomination fell short of the required 60 votes Wednesday morning as Republicans stood nearly united against Mr. Hayes, a former Interior Department official during the Clinton administration.
Well, "required 60 votes" is itself a dubious claim. A majority of the Senate wanted to confirm Hayes, but Republicans, for reasons that had nothing to do with Hayes or his qualifications, decided he shouldn't get a vote.
Indeed, the GOP has been quite candid about this. Sen. Robert Bennett's (R-Utah) office conceded yesterday, "This is not about Hayes." What it's about is a decision by the Obama administration to rescind some oil and gas leases in the West. Oil companies aren't happy about it, which means Republican senators aren't happy about it, which means the GOP has decided to punish the administration by refusing to let the Senate vote on a qualified Interior Department nominee.
What does Hayes have to do with the oil and gas leases? Nothing. Republicans just want to obstruct to make a point. They are, in other words, playing a petty, partisan game. Again.
Here's the roll call, but it's a little misleading. Hayes secured 57 votes, three short of the artificial minimum set by the shrinking Republican minority. It would have been 58, but Majority Leader Harry Reid switched for procedural reasons (by voting "nay," he can bring the nomination back to the floor at another time). It would have been 59, but John Kerry was in Massachusetts attending a funeral for a soldier killed in Iraq. It would have been 60, but Barbara Mikulski of Maryland wasn't in the chamber at the time.
Why the leadership didn't wait and hold the vote when Kerry and Mikulski were available, giving Hayes 60 votes, is unclear, but it suggests the nomination completely isn't dead yet.
Either way, though, it points to a process that is unsustainable. Qualified nominees who "only" enjoy the bipartisan support of a clear majority of the Senate are now denied floor votes. The Senate was never created to work (or not work) this way, and as Matt Yglesias noted this morning, the trend is "pointing in the direction of constant filibustering leading to the total paralysis of the American government."
- digby: You Can Do A Lot With Forty Votes
Just now the Senate filibustered their first Obama Administration nominee, David Hayes, who was bidding to be the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, because conservatives are seeking revenge for Ken Salazar's early moves at shutting down some of the worst oil and gas leases approved by the Bush Administration. Looking at the roll call, John Kerry and Barbara Mikulski missed the vote (Kerry was at a funeral for an Iraq soldier), and so eventually this guy will get confirmed. And I don't want to let Harry Reid off the hook - he screwed up the vote counting on this one, and his reticence to try and confirm Dawn Johnsen as head of the OLC shows an inability to count votes, twist arms, hold his caucus, and really show any kind of leadership.
However, this is an example of the mischief a Republican caucus can still cause, especially with only 99 Senators seated and Al Franken sitting out in Minnesota. Yesterday, Judd Gregg made this very clear:But in a 99-member Senate, 40 votes are enough to keep Democrats from cutting off debate on major legislation. "Usually you need 41 votes to get anything done around here. But right now, you can do a lot with 40 votes,'' said Judd Gregg.
What a pleasing coincidence for these Republicans! Fortunately, their colleague Norm Coleman, who is being bankrolled by the Republican National Committee and wealthy Republican donors, and without any coordination with Republicans in Washington, just happens to be throwing up whatever obstacle he can to keep Franken from getting seated. That just works out famously for Judd Gregg and his Senate pals.
In this sense, Norm Coleman remains a sitting Senator. Since his party just votes no anyway, his absence is as good as a vote to uphold the filibuster. You could say that Coleman is the most active inactive Senator in American history.
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