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Thanks to the controversy surrounding seating Roland Burris in Illinois and Al Franken in Minnesota, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder may need the GOP’s help to get confirmed.
From the Politico
With a big majority in the Senate, Democrats should have little trouble confirming Eric Holder as Barack Obama’s attorney general even if Republicans object. But there’s a catch: Democrats might not have a majority on the Judiciary Committee when Holder’s nomination comes up for a vote.
Democrats had a 10-9 majority on the committee in the 110th Congress. But when Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) resigns from the Senate to become vice president, the Democrats will be down to nine members on the committee.
And because the new Senate won’t be organized until the Al Franken-Norm Coleman race in Minnesota and the Roland Burris appointment from Illinois have been resolved, the committee may still be stuck at a 9-9 tie when it’s time to vote on Holder.
That means that Holder may need at least one Republican vote to get out of the committee. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) says that won’t be a problem. “It could be a nine-nine tie, but I’ve had [Republican] senators tell me privately that of course they’re going to vote for Eric Holder,” Leahy said.
Biden’s departure from the committee is only one of several changes it will face in the new year. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is being treated for a brain tumor, has already announced that he will leave the Judiciary Committee after more than 40 years on the panel, but he’ll stay on until the committees organize for the 111th Congress, which means he’ll be there for the Holder vote.
The Democratic-to-Republican ratio on the committee will likely change for the 111th Congress to reflect the Democrats’ larger majority in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have begun talks on the highly sensitive topic of committee ratios, but they haven’t been able to reach an agreement yet because of the uncertainties in Minnesota and Illinois.
I doubt that the Democrats will actually let this happen and will do what they can to ensure a majority on the committee to proceed on the nomination no matter what it takes.
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About the author
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media. He is active on Facebook and Twitter. You can follow him @donirvine to read his latest thoughts.
