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A senior Democrat has resigned from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and withdrawn his nomination to extend his term in frustration over a prolonged stalemate that has paralyzed the agency in a critical presidential election year. Former FEC Chairman Robert Lenhard withdrew his nomination because he didn’t know when the Senate could confirm him, according to a letter Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten on Monday. Lenhard was first named to the FEC in 2006, but was nominated for another term. “Given the complete unwillingness by Republicans to constitute a functional FEC, I could not assure him of timely confirmation,” Reid wrote in a letter to Bolten. No new nominees to the FEC have been approved because of a fight over Republican nominee Hans von Spakovsky, a Justice Department official who has been accused of politicizing the civil rights division he headed. Reid added that it would be difficult to find a Demorcatic replacement for Lenhard, a process that could take at least several months. Democrats take exception to von Spakovsky and have refused to bring all four FEC nominations to the floor for a joint vote. The election agency nominations are usually considered en bloc, so Democratic opposition to von Spakovsky’s nomination has held up a vote on all the nominees. Reid has offered to bring each nominee up for a vote separately, but Republicans have resisted any change to the FEC confirmation process. The White House has refused to withdraw von Spakovsky’s nomination, and the impasse has incapacitated the FEC because it lacks the quorum of commissioners necessary to hold votes. The collateral damage is considerable. Most recently, Democratic Party officials filed a suit to compel the FEC to investigate whether Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) violated election laws by pulling out of a federal matching funds program. “The impasse which has deprived the agency of a functional quorum has taken the nation’s campaign finance watchdog off the beat,” Reid continued. “It has prevented the full implementation of the far- reaching ethics bill enacted by Congress. This situation cannot stand.” Reid again urged President Bush to withdraw von Spakovsky’s nomination. |
