You guys get this? The Senate cannot get 60 votes for Dawn Johnsen, Obama's choice to run the Office of Legal Counsel, because she was once a NARAL legal director.
Dick Lugar, a Republican, has endorsed her nomination. But among Democrats, Nebraska's Ben Nelson is choosing an interesting time to start being an asshole. And of course, pretend Democrat Arlen Specter, still begging for a primary, is also working to block her appointment. And yes, they're working to block, because rather than vote against her in an up-or-down vote, they're apparently talking filibuster.
But this can all ultimately be laid at Harry Reid's feet, as Benen notes ...
[W]hat kind of show is Harry Reid running here? His caucus has 59 members, and Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana, a conservative Republican, has already endorsed Johnsen's nomination. We have Democratic senators who won't even let the president's choice for the OLC get a vote because she's pro-choice?
I know that Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.) oppose Johnsen's nomination. Fine, they can vote against her when the Senate votes on her confirmation. But denying Johnsen an up-or-down vote, because 15 years ago she provided legal counsel in support of legal reproductive rights, is farcical.
... And at Obama's, as Christy Hardin Smith argues:
From Harry Reid, from Dick Durbin, from Chuck Schumer...none of whom have done their jobs on arm twisting and have just allowed this to be a "well, if the White House wants her, they can do the work" game of chicken. And the White House? Nary a peep beyond that recent push from Holder. You think President Obama couldn't pick up a phone and twist a few arms along with his buddy Joe Biden? Yet that has not happened from everything I have heard.
The Senate will be in recess next week. Time for Obama's first recess appointment?