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Jane M. Hightower
$16.47
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By Douglas A. Wissing
$25.00
$20
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AP/J. Scott Applewhite
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By Robert Scheer — It is bizarre that Chuck Hagel, a war hero with a long record of sensible views on the deployment of military power, gets blocked as the president’s nominee to run the Pentagon, while Jack Lew, steeped in Wall Street greed, sails through as Treasury secretary.
Posted on Feb 14, 2013
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David Shankbone (CC-BY)
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Fearing a tough confirmation fight, the president declined to nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the consumer protection agency she invented. That’s a shame, writes The Boston Globe’s Steven Syre, who argues that the next choice won’t get confirmed either, and at least a nominated Warren “could have ...” (more)
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By Ruth Marcus — The treatment of President Obama’s nominee to be second in command of the Justice Department exemplifies the dysfunctional nature of the current confirmation process. It’s not broken—it’s shattered.
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By Ruth Marcus — Elena Kagan, no surprise, did not live up to the Kagan standard of openness in answering questions during her confirmation hearing. Mitch McConnell did not live up to the McConnell standard of deference in voting against her.
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White House / Pete Souza
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The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan on Thursday by a vote of 63-37. She will be the nation’s 112th Supreme Court justice and Barack Obama’s second appointment. Once she takes her oaths, it will be the first time, despite her impressive résumé, that Kagan has ever been a judge.
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AP / Susan Walsh
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The Senate Judiciary Committee and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan faced off Tuesday on the second day of Kagan’s confirmation hearing, and as expected, certain committee members were eager to zero in on ... (continued)
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Flickr / Berkman10_220 (CC-BY-SA)
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Elena “Shorty” Kagan will step onto the national stage when her confirmation process to become a Supreme Court justice begins Monday. Undoubtedly the confirmation hearings will bring words like stare decisis into the public vernacular again, along with a whole lot of hoopla about abortion. Let the democracy commence.
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By Ruth Marcus — She’s not gay, OK? Actually, the all-too-public discussion about the ought-to-be private topic of Elena Kagan’s sexuality would be easier if the Supreme Court nominee were gay.
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Fake news by Andy Borowitz —
“The American people have had years of watching Paula’s judging expertise, and they know that she is fair,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “She’s certainly fairer than Simon.”
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — Brace yourself for several months of occasionally biting but essentially meaningless political theater over the nomination of Solicitor General Kagan to the Supreme Court.
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By Ruth Marcus — Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has—or had, anyway—the right vision of what confirmation hearings for the high court should be.
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AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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By T.L. Caswell — In Washington, a Supreme Court nomination usually sets off a flood of political accusations, and in this case the GOP certainly upheld the grand old tradition of seeing sin where none existed.
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AP / Ron Edmonds
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The U.S. Supreme Court just got a little wiser. On Thursday, the Senate voted 68-31—split largely along party lines—to confirm Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latina Supreme Court justice and only the third woman to serve on America’s top court.
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Flickr / soggydan
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Republicans are so against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court that even John McCain, a self-proclaimed maverick with plenty of Latino constituents, says he will vote against her. Thing is, there just aren’t enough Republicans in the Senate for party unity to make a difference.
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By Ruth Marcus — Republican senators are asking themselves why they should give President Obama more leeway to name justices to his liking than then-Sen. Obama was willing to accord President Bush when he voted against both Bush nominees.
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senate.gov
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Supreme Court confirmation hearings are as much about politicians grabbing a little face time as they are about probing a nominee’s legal philosophy. Amid all the posturing and finger-wagging Monday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse spoke rather eloquently about what the court has become, and what it should be: “ ... A place ... where the comfortable can be afflicted and the afflicted find some comfort. ... ”
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Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons —
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AP photo / Win McNamee, pool
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By Eugene Robinson — For the Republicans outraged at “wise Latina” Sonia Sotomayor, being white and male is seen as a neutral condition, the natural order of things. Any “identity”—black, brown, female, gay, whatever—has to be judged against this supposedly “objective” standard.
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By Marie Cocco — Unless Sotomayor suffers a “complete meltdown,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina predicted, she will be confirmed. The price, though, is barely coded race baiting that has been part of the assault on Sotomayor since her nomination was announced.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — This week’s hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court represent the opening skirmish in a struggle to challenge the escalating activism of an increasingly conservative judiciary.
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White House / Pete Souza
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President Obama presided over his first formal Cabinet meeting Monday with a rather important chair left empty. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Obama’s pick to head the $750 billion Health and Human Services Department and spearhead his ambitious health care reform initiatives, has finally made it out of hearings and should be approved by the end of the week.
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By Marie Cocco — No need to fumble for words that sum up the stew of hypocrisy, arrogance and insiderism that is the unfolding saga of Tom Daschle. This is the audacity of audacity.
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Flickr / seiu_international
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Hillary Clinton made it safely through the confirmation process, despite a last-minute hissy fit from Senate Republicans. John McCain prevailed upon his colleagues to shape up and, in the end, only two voted against Clinton’s confirmation as secretary of state. She was then hastily sworn in.
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Flickr / seiu_international
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Well, Hillary Clinton will have to wait a little longer, but seven others whom President Barack Obama tapped to join his Cabinet had gotten the all-clear from the Senate as of Tuesday afternoon.
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nytimes.com
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Michael Mukasey has been sworn in as U.S. attorney general, a day after 53 senators decided that a man who doesn’t know what torture is should have the job. But the real blame—for anyone who objects to the confirmation, that is—should be reserved for Democrats Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, who made Bush’s day when they gave Mukasey the green light.
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Do we really need another attorney general who doesn’t know what torture is? The Senate Judiciary Committee just barely approved the nomination of Michael Mukasey on Tuesday. He is expected to breeze through the rest of the process. Remember some weeks from now, when the head of the Justice Department is a man who, despite fact and testimony and common sense, can’t call torture by its name, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer are responsible.
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By Amy Goodman — U.S. attorney general nominee Judge Michael Mukasey admits waterboarding is repugnant, but refuses to say whether it amounts to torture. Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein voted for his confirmation anyway.
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nytimes.com
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President Bush issued an ultimatum of sorts on Thursday over his embattled nominee for attorney general, Michael Mukasey, who refuses to say whether he considers waterboarding a form of torture. Bush said if the Democrats block the nomination, it “would guarantee that America would have no attorney general during this time of war.”
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CIA Chief Michael Hayden has issued a passionate defense of extraordinary rendition, claiming that the practice, which so often involves abduction and torture, is justified by the “irreplaceable” intelligence it produces. Meanwhile, President Bush’s preferred successor to loyal henchman Alberto Gonzales refuses to call torture by its name, though he claims to find it “repugnant.”
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By Marie Cocco — The nominee for attorney general doesn’t know “what is involved” in waterboarding, and he appears to back Bush’s usurpation of power. Isn’t it time for the Democrats to grow some spine?
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pbwt.com
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President Bush has selected former federal judge Michael Mukasey as his new attorney general. Mukasey has a reputation for being tough and impatient, which is fortunate, considering that he’ll have only 15 months to turn around an ailing Justice Department.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace says he did not resign voluntarily, but “I’ve been told I’m done.” Defense Secretary Robert Gates openly admitted that he would not seek another term for Pace in order to avoid a difficult confirmation. Pace has been closely tied to the Iraq war and its fortunes from the start, and only made matters worse recently with a public declaration of homophobia.
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news.yahoo.com
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Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that he had “concerns” over the military “surge” in Iraq during its planning and development. He said the operation would “likely have only temporary and localized effects” unless it was matched by efforts from the Iraqi government and American civilian authorities.
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By Marie Cocco — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales suddenly finds himself in hot water over the U.S. attorneys scandal, but the truth is, the Senate should never have confirmed him in the first place.
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Robert Gates has been confirmed by the Senate with enormous support. While much has been made of Gates’ “fresh perspective” on the war, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) pointed out that it is the president who structures policy. And this president is notorious for selectively listening to advice.
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wcsh6.com
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When asked during his confirmation hearing today whether the United States was winning the war in Iraq, Robert Gates said simply, “No, sir.” The nominee for defense secretary, who later went on to soften his position, is expected to receive a speedy confirmation.
Update: The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted unanimously to recommend approval of Gates’ confirmation.
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AP / Gerald Herbert
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That’s what Gen. Hayden said about the prewar Iraq intelligence failures. But there was no contrition for the domestic wiretapping activities he oversaw at the NSA. In contrast, he strongly defended the programs.
Well, now that he’s taken responsibility, at least we know what we’re in for if he gets confirmed.
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Gen. Michael Hayden bemoaned the “endless picking apart” of CIA operations in the news media during today’s confirmation hearing on his nomination to head the intelligence agency.
If the architect of the NSA domestic wiretapping program gets this promotion, it will be like a Jon Stewart joke gone horribly wrong.
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The nominee signals he might revisit the abortion ruling. | story
In an editorial, the New York Times says that Alito has “given the American people reasons to be worried.” | editorial
Also, in a heated exchange, Ted Kennedy spars with Arlen Specter over Alito’s membership in a discriminatory Princeton club. | video
Posted on Jan 11, 2006
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Ted Kennedy counters: “Time and again, even in routine matters involving average Americans, you give enormous, almost total deference to the exercise of governmental powers.” | story
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Why is Samuel Alito expected to sail through Senate confirmation when his views are so outrageous? The Associated Press reports that he defended domestic wiretap protections when he worked for the Reagan Justice Department.
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Benghazi: Dissecting Congressional Follies, Media Coverage and ‘Cover-Up’ Charges
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