Shaheen blasts GOP for holds on nominees who appear to have been confirmed

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) took to the Senate floor on Thursday to blast Republicans for blocking confirmation of nominees who were actually confirmed earlier in the day.

The first-term senator castigated anonymous holds on five U.S. Attorney nominees, five U.S. Marshal nominees, and the nominee to be deputy director of National Drug Policy Control.

A unanimous consent motion an hour earlier by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had the effect of confirming those nominees, though.

"A lot of states where the people's business is not getting done because those nominees haven't been put in place," Shaheen said. "And the sad thing is the people who have these folks on hold are trying to get back at somebody in government, but the people who are suffering are the constituents in those states who are not getting their work done."

Shaheen's office said that the ramped up rhetoric against holds were helping to move through nominees.

“This shows that the pressure is working," Shaheen spokeswoman Colleen Murray said. "If the Senators that are unanimously blocking nominees fold that quickly when they start getting called out on the floor, I’d say this floor strategy is effective.” 

The executive calendar of the Senate for today show's the following nominees were confirmed en bloc without objection:

• 780 William N. Nettles, of South Carolina, to be United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina for the term of four years, vice William Walter Wilkins, III.
• 781 Wifredo A. Ferrer, of Florida, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida for the term of four years, vice R. Alexander Acosta.
• 795 David A. Capp, of Indiana, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana for the term of four years, vice Joseph S. Van Bokkelen, resigned.
• 796 Anne M. Tompkins, of North Carolina, to be United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina for the term of four years, vice Gretchen C.F. Shappert, resigned.
• 816 Loretta E. Lynch, of New York, to be United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York for the term of four years, vice Roslynn R. Mauskopf, resigned.
• 797 Kelly McDade Nesbit, of North Carolina, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of North Carolina for the term of four years, vice Patrick Carroll Smith, Sr.
• 798 Peter Christopher Munoz, of Michigan, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of Michigan for the term of four years, vice James Robert Dougan.
• 817 Noel Culver March, of Maine, to be United States Marshal for the District of Maine for the term of four years, vice David Donald Viles.
• 818 George White, of Mississippi, to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi for the term of four years, vice Nehemiah Flowers.
• 819 Brian Todd Underwood, of Idaho, to be United States Marshal for the District of Idaho for the term of four years, vice Patrick E. McDonald.

This post was updated at 4:30 p.m.