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The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday voted to report out all four Federal Election Commission nominations without recommendation, an unprecedented maneuver aimed at accommodating Chairman Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) objections to Hans von Spakovsky’s nomination. Von Spakovsky’s nomination became controversial earlier this year during the Democrats’ investigation of the firing of U.S. attorneys and whether the Justice Department had been improperly politicized during President Bush’s tenure. Former top officials of the civil rights division, where von Spakovsky held the position of counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, have sent letters to members of the Rules Committee accusing him of politicizing the voting rights section and arguing against his confirmation. Von Spakovsky was installed on the FEC as a recess appointment in early January 2006, but the Senate has not confirmed him. Feinstein has repeatedly voiced serious concerns about his nomination, warning that she would oppose it. During the Rule Committee’s executive meeting Wednesday, Feinstein originally said she wanted to vote on each nominee separately, as opposed to considering all four nominees together in one vote, as the committee has done in the past. Republicans on the panel objected, arguing that the move breaks all known committee precedent on moving FEC nominations. “The precedent is very clear,” said Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah), the ranking Republican on the panel. “Nominations to the FEC have always been reported en bloc and in pairs.” But Feinstein said committee rules governing FEC nominations allow only for passing nominations that have unanimous consent, which her objection would prevent. After about a half-hour of negotiation, Feinstein and Bennett agreed to pass all of the nominations without recommendation. Feinstein, however, warned that she would voice her concerns about von Spakovsky’s nomination when it reaches the Senate floor for a vote. “I don’t feel that this is an unbiased individual,” she said. “We’re coming into a critical time in elections, a key presidential election, key Senate elections, key House elections, and that is why I personally feel so strongly about it.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was on hand to back up Bennett’s assertions about Senate precedent, said he would not tolerate any attempt to separate von Spakovsky’s nomination from the three other FEC nominations on the Senate floor. “None of these nominees will move across the Senate unless they move together,” he said. “The view has always been that the Democrats pick the Democrat candidates and Republicans pick the Republicans.” The other FEC commissioners up for consideration include: Steven T. Walther, David M. Mason and Robert D. Lenhard of Maryland. |
