As HousesofProgress notes in quick hits, Obama has finally pulled the trigger on recess appointments. The White House press release is all prim and proper in its headline presentation:
President Obama Announces Recess Appointments to Key Administration Positions
Fifteen Appointees Have Waited an Average of 214 Days for Senate Confirmation
but the White House blog entry from Jen Psaki, White House Deputy Communications Director, is a little more realistic:
An Unprecedented Level of Obstruction
Posted by Jen Psaki on March 27, 2010 at 02:55 PM EDT
Faced with an unprecedented level of obstruction in the Senate, the President announced his intention to recess appoint fifteen nominees to fill critical administration posts. While the President respects the critical role the Senate plays in the appointment process, he was no longer willing to let another month go by with key economic positions unfilled, especially at a time when our country is recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Many of these fifteen individuals have enjoyed broad bipartisan support, but have found their confirmation votes delayed for reasons that have nothing to do with their qualifications. It has more to do with an obstruction-at-all-costs mentality that we've been faced with since the President came into office. Because of political posturing, these fifteen appointees have waited an average of 214 days for Senate confirmation.
This opposition got so out of hand at one point that one senator put a blanket hold on all of the President's nominees in an attempt to win concessions on two projects that would benefit his state. And another nominee's confirmation was delayed by one senator for more than eight months because of a disagreement over a proposed federal building in his home state. When that nominee was finally given the vote she deserved, she was confirmed 96 to 0. When you attempt to prevent the government from working effectively because you didn't get your way, you're failing to live up to your responsibilities as a public servant.
No argument there. But this is where it gets really good--comparing Obama with Bush--directly demolishing the false-equivalence narrative:
To put this in perspective, at this time in 2002, President Bush had only 5 nominees pending on the floor. By contrast, President Obama has 77 nominees currently pending on the floor, 58 of whom have been waiting for over two weeks and 44 of those have been waiting more than a month. And cloture has been filed 16 times on Obama nominees, nine of whom were subsequently confirmed with 60 or more votes or by voice vote. Cloture was not filed on a single Bush nominee in his first year. And despite facing significantly less opposition, President Bush had already made 10 recess appointments by this point in his presidency and he made another five over the spring recess.
A few more numbers to put this in perspective:
These fifteen nominees have been waiting a total of 3,204 days or almost nine years to start their respective jobs.
Even the most recently nominated of these fifteen individuals has been waiting 144 days or nearly five months.
Jeffrey Goldstein was nominated to serve as the top domestic finance official at Treasury, a crucial position for fixing the economy and preventing another financial crisis. Goldstein has been waiting 248 days or over 8 months.
Jacqueline Berrien was nominated to serve as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC currently lacks a quorum and cannot fulfill its mandate to protect American workers from discrimination. Berrien has been waiting 254 days or over 8 months.
Craig Becker and Mark Pearce were nominated to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which protects American workers from unfair labor practices. The five member board has been trying to operate with only two members. Becker and Pearce have been waiting for 261 days or over 8 months.
We would have all been better off if Obama had done this a long, long time ago. Failing to go over the heads of obstructionist GOP senators has only emboldened them to become more and more outrageous in their behavior and demands. But now, at last, Obama seems to have finally decided that enough is enough. A couple of observations on the flip.
First, the recess appointments are not in place of seeking permanent appointments via Senate approval.
Second, these appointments appear to be just a warning shot. If GOP Senators don't change their behavior, there are plenty of other appointments that could be made at the next recess.
Third, by putting the Bush-era comparisons right up front, Obama has directly challenged the default Versailles "both sides do it" narrative, something that's bound to keep the Versailles press as well the Republicans off-balance as the Administration seeks to continue taking advantage of the bump in political capital and momentum it has coming off of passing health care reform.
There is nothing terribly brilliant in all the above. It's just normal, competent presidential politics, not even especially partisan, really, since the problem is just as much about institutional and constitutional duties. But up till now the Obama Administration has simply been unbelievably disastrous, due to its embrace of a brain-dead ideology of mindless "bipartisanship" regardless of any foundation in reality.
What will happen next is anybody's guess. But we can certainly shout out to the heavens, "Well, it's about time!"
The majority of these nominees are not particularly headed for controversial areas, even by today's warped standards:
Jeffrey Goldstein: Nominee for Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Department of the Treasury
Michael F. Mundaca: Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Department of the Treasury
Eric L. Hirschhorn: Nominee for Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration and head of the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce
Michael Punke: Nominee for Deputy Trade Representative - Geneva, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Francisco "Frank" J. Sánchez: Nominee for Under Secretary for International Trade, Department of Commerce
Islam A. Siddiqui: Nominee for Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Alan D. Bersin: Nominee for Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
Jill Long Thompson: Nominee for Member, Farm Credit Administration Board
Rafael Borras: Nominee for Under Secretary for Management , Department of Homeland Security
OTOH, here's the full press release bio info on the two appointees to the NLRB:
Craig Becker: Nominee for Board Member, National Labor Relations Board Craig Becker currently serves as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1978 and received his J.D. in 1981 from Yale Law School where he was an Editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school he clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. For the past 27 years, he has practiced and taught labor law. He was a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law between 1989 and 1994 and has also taught at the University of Chicago and Georgetown Law Schools. He has published numerous articles on labor and employment law in scholarly journals, including the Harvard Law Review and Chicago Law Review, and has argued labor and employment cases in virtually every federal court of appeals and before the United States Supreme Court.
Mark Pearce: Nominee for Board Member, National Labor Relations Board Mark Gaston Pearce has been a labor lawyer for his entire career. He is one of the founding partners of the Buffalo, New York law firm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen & Giroux where he practices union side labor and employment law before state and federal courts and agencies including the N.Y.S. Public Employment Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board. Pearce in 2008 was appointed by the NYS Governor to serve as a Board Member on the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, an independent quasi-judicial agency responsible for review of certain rulings and compliance orders of the NYS Department of Labor in matters including wage and hour law. Pearce has taught several courses in the labor studies program at Cornell University's School of Industrial Labor Relations Extension. He is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Prior to 2002, Pearce practiced union side labor law and employment law at Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury & Cambria LLP. From 1979 to 1994, he was an attorney and District Trial Specialist for the NLRB in Buffalo, NY. Pearce received his J.D. from State University of New York, and his B.A. from Cornell University.
And here's the full press release bio info on the appointees to the EEOC board and staff positions:
Jacqueline A. Berrien, Nominee for Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Ms. Berrien has served as Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) since September 2004. In that position, she assists with the direction and implementation of LDF's national legal advocacy and scholarship programs. Ms. Berrien served from 2001 to 2004 as a Program Officer in the Ford Foundation's Peace and Social Justice Program, where she administered more than $13 million of grants to promote greater political participation by underrepresented groups and remove barriers to civic engagement. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Ms. Berrien was an Assistant Counsel with LDF and directed the Fund's voting rights and political participation work. For eight years before that, Ms. Berrien was a staff attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union. Berrien has also taught in trial advocacy programs at Fordham and Harvard law schools and served on the adjunct faculty of New York Law School. She began her legal career clerking for the Honorable U.W. Clemon, the first African-American appointed to the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama. Ms. Berrien is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as a General Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors in Government from Oberlin College and also completed a major in English.
Chai R. Feldblum: Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chai Feldblum is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center where she has taught since 1991. She also founded the Law Center's Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, a program designed to train students to become legislative lawyers. Feldblum previously served as Legislative Counsel to the AIDS Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. In this role, she developed legislation, analyzed policy on various AIDS-related issues, and played a leading role in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and, later as a law professor, in the passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. She has also worked on advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and has been a leading expert on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. As Co-Director of Workplace Flexibility 2010, Feldblum has worked to advance flexible workplaces in a manner that works for employees and employers. Feldblum clerked for Judge Frank Coffin and for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Barnard College.
Victoria A. Lipnic: Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Victoria A. Lipnic is of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Ms. Lipnic was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from 2002 until 2009. In addition to her work with the Department of Labor, Ms. Lipnic's experience in Washington, D.C. includes service as Workforce Policy Counsel to the Republican members of the Education and Labor Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before her work for Congress, Ms. Lipnic acted as in-house counsel for labor and employment matters to the U.S. Postal Service for six years. She also served as a special assistant for business liaison to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Honorable Malcolm Baldrige. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Allegheny College and a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law.
P. David Lopez: Nominee for General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission David Lopez has served at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for 13 years in the field and at headquarters. He began at the EEOC in 1994 as a Special Assistant to Commissioner Casellas. Currently, Mr. Lopez is a Supervisory Trial Attorney with the EEOC's Phoenix District Office. During his tenure, Mr. Lopez has successfully tried several cases on behalf of the EEOC in a wide variety of legal bases. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Lopez served at the Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section, at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1994. From 1988 to 1991, he was an Associate with Spiegel and McDiarmid. Mr. Lopez received a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988 and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Arizona State University in 1985, magna cum laude.
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