Bush Nominees Have a Low Rate of Confirmation in the Senate

According to a Washington Times article posted on washingtontimes.com, the Democratic majority in the United States Senate is in no hurry to confirm the nominees that President George W. Bush has sent to them. The Times reports that out of 229 major nominations sent since January 7 of this year, only 66 have been confirmed, for a percentage of 29%.

According to the Times, among the unfilled positions waiting on Senate confirmation are the Secretary of the Army, the Energy undersecretary for nuclear security, assistant secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Labor. Not included in the 229 figure are nominations for U.S. attorneys, marshals, and judges. The confirmation rate for those positions is better (39%), but still not good.

A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, is quoted by the Times as expressing concern at the slowness of the process, ""As a nation at war, it is critical that senior leadership positions at the Department of Defense are filled in an expeditious manner. The Senate plays a vital role with regards to the confirmation process, and we will continue to work closely with senators to fill these critical positions."

A former White House official agreed, pointing out that when certain positions are not filled, decisions are delayed until there are people in place. "It really has a crippling effect on the agency. There's no excuse for not getting this done," the former official told the Times.

The Times compared the current rate of confirmation to what happened during the first six months of 1995 when a Democrat was in the White House and the Republicans had just gained control of both houses of Congress. During those six months, out of 188 nominations sent by President Bill Clinton, the Senate confirmed 112 or 60%.

The Times notes that a slow down in confirmations is not unusual as a President approaches the end of the term and members of the opposing party hope that the next President might be from their party with the power to make nominations more in line with their party's goals. The low rate so far this year also "reflects the president's declining political capital of the administration in Congress," according to a statement to the Times by Paul C. Light, a professor at New York University.

Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh said a slow confirmation rate is likely for the rest of Mr. Bush's days in the White House. "The fact is in a narrowly divided Senate with an unpopular war and just as many unhappy Republicans, nominations will be used as leverage from now to the end of the Bush presidency. It is one of the few ways, if any, that can be used to move the Bush administration," she told the Times.

washingtontimes.com/article/20070702/NATION/107020057/1002
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