Controversial FEC Nominee Withdraws
Controversial Federal Election Commission nominee Hans von Spakovsky has withdrawn his name from consideration for the post, potentially clearing the way for a deal that could get the crippled agency back up and running.
Von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department lawyer and Republican nominee to the commission, told the White House Friday he was withdrawing his name. His candidacy has been at the center of a partisan standoff in the Senate, as Democrats strongly opposed him for his past work on voting rights issues. With four vacancies on the commission -- two from each party -- Democrats wanted to vote on each nominee separately so they could kill von Spakovsky's chances. But Republicans insisted on voting on all four nominees as a group, and neither side would budge.
Von Spakovsky's biggest Hill supporter, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said in a statement: "I am deeply disappointed by the decision of Hans von Spakovsky to withdraw his nomination to the Federal Election Commission. Senate Democrats set a troubling precedent with their partisan obstruction of a highly qualified nominee to the FEC -- something that has never been done during my time in the Senate, regardless of who was in the majority."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called von Spakovsky's withdrawal "a victory for our electoral process. With Mr. von Spakovsky now removed, I anticipate that we will be able to swiftly put a functioning FEC in place. That too is what the American people deserve."
The standoff has meant that the FEC only has two out of six commissioners working, not enough for a quorum necessary to take substantive action. That has threatened Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) chances of getting public funding for his general election campaign, since the FEC must sign off before the U.S. Treasury can release the funds. The agency has also been unable to deal with a host of campaign complaints filed by various parties, or approve new rules governing various fundraising organizations. With von Spakovsky no longer in the middle, Senate Democrats and Republicans may soon be able to move the other nominees and get the FEC working again.
By Ben Pershing |
May 16, 2008; 6:05 PM ET
2008 Campaign
, Fundraising Circuit
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Posted by: MadasHell | May 17, 2008 9:28 AM
Once again, Democrats have given priority, not to fulfilling their campaign pledges to end earmarks, etc, but to obstructing President Bush.
-Wm Tate
http://www.atimelikethis.us/
Posted by: Wm Tate | May 19, 2008 9:27 AM
When President Bush is seeking to put partisan hacks in government jobs, it's the job of Democrats to 'obstruct' as much as possible.
After all, we have seen the damage that can be done when President Bush is allowed to choose whomever he wants for any particular position.
As far as I am aware, the whole point of an opposition party is to be just that, namely provide opposition to, in this particular case, the Republicans. This is-or should be-rather easily done since there is little that Republicans have done to warrant the support of anyone that isn't white, a millionaire, or a defense contractor.
And I forgot to include religions zealots, a particularly strong Republican constituency; which is, btw, why the Republicans will lose the Senate and the Presidency, along with further losses in the House of Representatives.
Posted by: Unsean | May 19, 2008 11:19 AM
Who writes this crap:
Von Spakovsky's biggest Hill supporter, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said in a statement: "I am deeply disappointed by the decision of Hans von Spakovsky to withdraw his nomination to the Federal Election Commission. Senate Democrats set a troubling precedent with their partisan obstruction of a highly qualified nominee to the FEC -- something that has never been done during my time in the Senate, regardless of who was in the majority."
Posted by: Tom | May 19, 2008 4:33 PM
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I'd have to say that Hans von Spakovsky finally saw the writing on the wall and figured this was truly NOT a good time for any PUG. So by stating 'financial hardship' as his reasoning to withdraw in an attempt to save face (and we all know that's what financial hardship means), he has now left the door open for progress and decent leadership of the FEC.