Nominees at Standstill as G.O.P. Flexes Its Muscle

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/us/politics/20nominate.html?_r=2

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
Published: June 19, 2011

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are blocking a wide range of presidential nominees as a means of reshaping and restraining the Obama administration’s economic policies on prominent issues like housing, finance, foreign trade and offshore drilling.

The list of vacancies in senior economic and regulatory positions has lengthened to roughly a dozen since last November, when Republicans won enough Senate seats to prevent confirmations. The White House has not tried to fill several of the positions. Some of the people it has named have been stuck in legislative limbo, while others have given up, including the Nobel laureate Peter A. Diamond, who withdrew his nomination for a seat on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

Senators have long exercised their constitutional prerogative to derail nominations. And, for just as long, the party in the White House has accused its opponents of abusing that power. But several of the current standoffs differ in at least one respect: Republicans have said they are not opposing a particular nominee but rather any nominee, whoever it may be.

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A group of 44 Republican senators say they will not confirm a commerce secretary, or any other trade official, until the conclusion of free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. They have also vowed to block any nominee to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, instead demanding that Democrats agree to eliminate the position and curtail the agency’s powers.

Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, blocked a vote on President Obama’s nominee to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service until the government granted 15 permits for deepwater drilling. Those conditions were satisfied last month. A separate demand by Senator Mike Lee of Utah that the Interior Department release certain documents was met last week. Now the nomination is being blocked by Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, who wants a review of the protected status of wolves.

“The one leverage tool that the minority party in the Senate has right now is confirmations,” said Joseph Engelhard of Capital Alpha Partners, a research firm that analyzes Washington for corporate clients.

“This isn’t about any particular appointee — Ben Franklin could come back to life and they would oppose him,” said Mr. Engelhard, a former Republican aide on the House Financial Services Committee. “There’s just very strong concerns on their side that the process, that traditional way that the Senate likes to come to bipartisan compromise, isn’t working.”

Democratic lawmakers, regulators and even some industry groups say they are increasingly concerned that the vacancies are impeding efforts to improve regulation and spur growth.

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Almost a year has passed since Mr. Shelby and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, a Democrat who led the banking committee until he retired last year, sent a letter to the White House urging Mr. Obama to appoint a leader “as soon as possible” for the housing agency, which supervises the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“We also urge you to make timely appointments to fill the positions at other federal financial regulators.” the letter said. “A full contingent of federal financial regulators is crucial to maintaining adequate federal prudential regulation and consumer protections.”

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