Posted on 11/22/2008 2:54:01 PM PST by La Enchiladita
As President-elect Barack Obama quickly selects officials for his administration, attention is starting to turn to the potential obstacles they face in Senate confirmation hearings.
The Associated Press, citing a Democratic source, reports that John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, had told Senate aides on Friday that Obama hoped for a speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly thereafter.
But past controversies involving some of his picks could make for bloody hearings.
The latest list of Obama's expected Cabinet selections includes Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, Timothy Geithner as his Treasury secretary, Eric Holder as his attorney general, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for commerce secretary and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for secretary of the Homeland Security Department.
Senators will have to decide in the confirmation hearings whether to broach Richardson's involvement, though marginal, in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as well as Napolitano's work in the Anita Hill sexual harassment case and Holder's support of President Clinton's controversial pardon of Marc Rich.
Although none of these nominations is expected to fail, it is possible some could be delayed.
Richardson's nomination could be haunted by two incidents.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Richardson also could face a Capitol grilling for accusations he faced from both Democratic and Republican senators for failing to properly safeguard nuclear secrets after he left his U.N. post to become energy secretary.
After delaying Richardson's appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2000 for inquiries into security lapses at Los Alamos National Laboratories, Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia told him he would never again receive Senate support for any office he sought.
"You have squandered your treasure," Byrd told him.
FReepers catch on fast, I see BubbaII in the keywords already. There are a lot of Clinton connections in these appointments, favors owed I take it.
I think the ObaMessiah will get anything he wants. It will be like the Clinton impeachment trial in the Senate—some going-through-the-motions stuff but nothing serious. Some token questioning so that they can say, “yes, we investigated.”
Every cabinet pick will go before a Senate with at least 58 Democrats in it. They could barbecue puppies and kitties in their back yard and even that wouldn’t halt any of these nominees from being approved.
0 went through the list of worse Clinton appointees...and chose the worst of them.
Clinton Administration #3.
I think they should ask Hillary about those FBI files when she had access to such secret documents.
We should all want to know how she will handle her travel arrangements this time......
Does she have any better memory now than she did as First Lady? It was looking like she had Alzheimer's over 8 years ago. If she knows a cure for that dreadful disease then she needs to share it with the nation.
Will she pass to Meechel her bimbo eruption technique?
Will she tell Meechel how to get rid of staff members who bcome expendable? What was the name of that park?
Oh, but you can forget all about Odumbo’s past controversies.
UNBELIEVABLE!
I think so... only far worse. Nightmare.
We’d better get crackin’ on 2010.
Marcy Park.
Thanks, I think I have some of the Alheimier stuff myself.
That we should.
What is amusing is that Zogby, a far left pollster, did a poll showing Obama voters to be uninformed... and he got slammed for it.
Quite telling, and adds to the scary.
Let it be bloody really bloody ...
Just where are these obstacles coming from, the Moon?
For the MSM, it’s as easy to ignore a dozen corruption scandals as it is to ignore one. The public has been conditioned to accept that only Republicans are corrupt; it doesn’t apply to Democrats.
Democrats are going ram the nominations through. I don’t see how a fox reporter can make these claims with a straight face. Even if the Republicans have the goods on some of these creeps, the MSM is going to be running ahead of the Democrats, maneuvering as needed to get Obama what he wants.
WE NEED FREEPERS TO CALL ALL THE GOP SENATORS AND DEMAND A FULL AND VIGOROUS HEARING PROCESS.
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