David Hayes, the pick for #2 at Interior.
Jay Newton-Small at The Swampland:
Hayes was voted down 57-39. McConnell’s office released an email noting all the Bush nominees that Dems filibustered, or attempted to: Dirk Kempthorne, Richard Stickler, Thomas Dorr, John Bolton (twice).
Brian Beutler at TPM:
The Republicans have filibustered the nomination of David Hayes to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior. The move comes after Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) had put a hold on Hayes, supposedly because of the Obama Interior Department’s decision to cancel oil and gas leases in Utah.
Holds, though, are informal–honored as a matter of courtesy within the Senate–and it seems like what happened is that the GOP blocked cloture in order to ensure that Bennett’s hold wasn’t ignored. We’ll have more for you on that later today, but Bennett himself has said he’d lift the hold and vote for Hayes if and when the Interior Department addresses the cancellation of those leases.
I think it’s pretty obvious that the trends over the past 5-10 years are pointing in the direction of constant filibustering leading to the total paralysis of the American government. There was never an intention of creating a standing 60 vote supermajority rule in the Senate, and for the vast majority of American history filibustering was a routine measure rather than an everyday thing. Now that it’s become routine, the situation is untenable and it’s urgent to start looking for a path to shifting to majority rule. That would presumably involve some kind of staggered phase-in or something to mitigate charges of opportunism. Or it could be done opportunistically. Either way, the sooner the better.
Michelle Malkin’s post is titled “Why I’m not cheering Senate GOP’s blockage of Interior nominee.” She ends with this:
Great. Now, the libs can justifiably accuse the GOP of exploiting the nomination process for political ends.
Way to go restoring the “brand.”
Will add more later.
UPDATE: Steve Benen.
