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Jim Nussle's confirmation as White House Budget Director seems to be unlikely to happen.
From the Cedar Rapids Gazette...
The committee vote today was 22-1, with only Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, in opposition.Sanders and an unidentified Senator have placed holds on Nussle's confirmation, which means it won't come up for a vote until the holds are removed.
"President Bush is completely out of touch with the economic realities facing working families in America," Sanders said. " Bush needs to hear the truth, not an echo. He needs a budget director who will make him face the facts, not fan his fantasies."
The timing of the Senate vote was unclear. Congress was struggling to wrap up action on several issues, and the nomination of the Manchester Republican was not considered a priority for some Democrats before the month-long August recess despite the wishes of President Bush.
Here is video of Sen. Sanders questioning Nussle during the Senate Budget Committee's hearing.
3 comments:
While I might agree with the sentiment that President Bush's economic policies are wrong headed, I find Sen. Sanders' hold idiotic. Like it or not, the President is entitled to the executive branch employees that he wants, so long as they have the qualifications to perform the job (and historically that hasn't even been a given). The confirmation process for administration officials is intended to evaluate the qualificaitions of the nominees.
The budget director is the president's mouthpeice to Congress, and contrary to Sen. Sander's opinion, the director's job is preceisely to parrot what the president wants him to say. I'm not a Nussel fan, but if anyone is qualified to parrot the White Houses budge priorities it is Nussle. It's not fair to him that his nominatin is is just a proxy for someone who disagrees with the President's policies. We would all be better served if they would fight the policies where the fight belongs, during debate. Rather than meaningless theatrics and sniping from the sidelines.
I tend to agree with you. I think Senate Democrats see this as a card in their hand that they can play if Bush threatens to veto something (such as SCHIP).
I hate the anonymous hold; at least Bernie Sanders was able to make the news and get the media to cover the idiocy of Bush's economic policies.
But I agree that this is a strange issue to go to the mat on when the Senate has enabled Bush to do so much harm in so many areas. As Ben writes, Nussle is particularly qualified for the job or parroting the White House budget priorities.
desmoinesdem
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