Shelby puts a hold on ALL Obama nominations.

[Little Raven]

I guess that's why 60 was so important to the Democrats.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary "blanket hold" on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, according to multiple reports this evening. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

I'm beginning to wonder if the Senate isn't broken.

 

[Integral]

Guys, this isn't funny anymore...

More of the article:

"While holds are frequent," CongressDaily's Dan Friedman and Megan Scully report (sub. req.), "Senate aides said a blanket hold represents a far more aggressive use of the power than is normal." The magazine reported aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were the source of the news about Shelby's blanket hold.

The Mobile Press-Register picked up the story early this afternoon. The paper confirmed Reid's account of the hold, and reported that a Shelby spokesperson "did not immediately respond to phone and e-mail messages seeking confirmation of the senator's action or his reason for doing so."

Shelby has been tight-lipped about the holds, offering only an unnamed spokesperson to reporters today to explain them. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke the news of the blanket hold this afternoon. Reid aides told CongressDaily the hold extends to "all executive nominations on the Senate calendar."

According to the report, Shelby is holding Obama's nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track. The two programs Shelby wants to move forward or else:

- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From CongressDaily: "Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals." Federal Times offers more details on the tanker deal, and also confirms its connection to the hold.

- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: "[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won't build" the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based "at the Army's Redstone Arsenal."

So the Treasury's still operating at half-staff (among other things) and will remain so until this guy gets his earmarks. Lovely.

 

[warpus]

If one senator is able to do such a thing for no good reason, then it sounds broken to me.

 

[JerichoHill]

Broken, absolutely.

 

[Gilder]

If this is at all true, this is ridiculous.

 

[Little Raven]

If one senator is able to do such a thing for no good reason, then it sounds broken to me.

In fairness, it takes more than one senator. It takes 41. One to place the hold, 40 to back him up.

But Republicans are standing by Shelby, at least so far.

 

[MobBoss]

Its not broken, its called politics. Both sides play their games, dependant upon who is majority and who isnt. This isnt really anything new.

 

[Elrohir]

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous that one senator can do all that. But...for the record, he has kind of a point about the tanker thing: EADS/Northrop has kind of gotten screwed in this whole thing, and Boeing has acted incredibly entitled and has really only stayed in the running through lobbying politicians with an interest in Boeing making lots of money. EADS/Northrop offered a far better deal, and it not being finished by now is pure politics.

Now of course, that says nothing about how strange our political system is. Just a little context for you guys.

 

[trader/warrior]

Might be a stupid question.

Nominations for what?

 

[Little Raven]

This isnt really anything new.

Please, find me an example of a Democratic senator placing a blanket hold on ALL Bush nominations until his earmarks went through.

The process isn't new. The way it's being used is. Not because Republicans are evil, but because the Senate was never intended to function in an environment of 24-hour news networks, blogs, and advocacy groups. It was intended to be the back-room gentlemen's club, where both sides could cut deals. That doesn't happen anymore, but the procedures that assume it will still exist.

 

[JollyRoger]

Porky Pig will end up folding on this one.

 

[Theige]

Abolish the Senate. Who needs it.

The Senate seems to be the source of most government waste, allowing small states to secure ridiculous earmarks. (See: Bridge to Nowhere)

 

[Miles Teg]

Its not broken, its called politics. Both sides play their games, dependant upon who is majority and who isnt. This isnt really anything new.

Mobby, this is new. I mean that quite literally. As best as I can tell, no one's ever done anything like this before. Not on this scale, and not anywhere close to it.

 

[illram]

If it's over a bunch of earmarks it shouldn't be too difficult to get a spin machine up and running and castigate this guy. Oh wait this is the Democrats, never mind, they'll just fold and do whatever this one random legislator wants if he cries enough.

 

[Elrohir]

Please, find me an example of a Democratic senator placing a blanket hold on ALL Bush nominations until his earmarks went through.

The process isn't new. The way it's being used is. Not because Republicans are evil, but because the Senate was never intended to function in an environment of 24-hour news networks, blogs, and advocacy groups. It was intended to be the back-room gentlemen's club, where both sides could cut deals. That doesn't happen anymore, but the procedures that assume it will still exist.

The explosives testing facility could be called an earmark, of sorts. (It's the location that makes it suspect - the idea sounds fine to me) But the first one, the tanker deal, is not an earmark. It's a vital military program that's been derailed by politicians and is many years overdue. The Air Force's tankers are quite literally falling to pieces, and they're a vital part of the USAF's power projection capabilities. I can't say that I like that he's able to do this, but you shouldn't just label these as earmarks, because that's misleading. The tanker deal is a long term contract that is very important for continuing overseas operations.

 

[MobBoss]

I cant find anything else on this on any of the major news networks. CNN/FOX, etc.

 

[Little Raven]

It's a vital military program that's been derailed by politicians and is many years overdue.

And it's overdue precisely because politicians keep pulling political strings to get the money moved to their district! I'm well aware of the importance of the tanker project - I even lean towards Northrop over Boeing, but this kind of stunt does NOT help the situation one bit.

We need to take the politics OUT of things like the tanker contract, not turn politics up to 11.

 

[Miles Teg]

So out of curiosity Elro, is this worthy of Shelby's little temper tantrum?

I cant find anything else on this on any of the major news networks. CNN/FOX, etc.

Because it's a boring political process story, and the majority of viewers wouldn't get why it's so big. It's going to take some Democratic media strategy (an self-contradiction, I know) to bring this issue to the forefront where it belongs.

 

[JollyRoger]

"I don't like that plan at all because I think that's where we're deciding who's going to get a vote and who's not," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told FOX News Thursday morning. "I believe all of these nominees — they've been vetted, they've come out of committee, they're extremely qualified and we ought to vote them up-or-down."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,157108,00.html

 

[Little Raven]

I cant find anything else on this on any of the major news networks. CNN/FOX, etc.

It's breaking now. AFP has it, as does USA Today. CNN will no doubt pick it shortly - NYTimes already has it. Fox...well, maybe.