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The Blame Game: FEC Nomination Fight Continues

February 26, 2008 6:20 PM

ABC News' Jennifer Duck and Z. Byron Wolf Report: FEC fingerpointing continues as questions remain about Republican presidential contender Sen. John McCain's obligation to the public financing system.

While the presidential campaigns of sitting senators traversed the country, a political nomination battle on Capitol Hill that will have major implications for the Republican nominee remains stalled.

Speaking to reporters and TV cameras this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Republicans were to blame for not allowing votes on four long-stalled nominees to the FEC.  Moments later, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed the Democrats.

Senator John McCain, R-Ariz, meanwhile, is in something of a Catch-22; he wants to get a waiver from the FEC to opt out of federal funding for his primary campaign, but there is not a quorum of FEC commissioners to consider his case.  If the posturing on Capitol Hill is any indication, this is not an impasse with a resolution in sight.

Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, have placed a hold on one of the Republican nominees, Hans von Spakovsky, but Reid has offered Republicans to have an up or down vote on the three remaining nominees.

"I gave the Republicans a perfect out -- and it's not too outlandish," Reid argued today. "There are two Democratic nominees; one Republican nominee.  Let's have a vote on them.  The majority rules. If Van Spotsky or whatever his name is can get a majority, he's on.  If he isn't, he's out.  Same with the two Democrats. So anyone to try to stretch this, it's a figment of their imagination.  Senator Obama had nothing to do with it; I had everything to do with it.  I said that what we should do is have a straight up-or-down vote on all three of these. That's verbiage the Republicans have been talking about for a long time -- up-or-down votes.  That's what I gave them.  They made a decision to make the Federal Election Commission functionless, because with all the problems that we are seeing, most all of them are directed toward Republicans.  And I guess they figure it's better that nobody scrutinizes what they're doing."

But, it's not quite that simple, as McConnell pointed out moments later. What Reid proposes could result in an FEC with more Democratic commissioners than Republican commissioners.

The Republicans have rejected that proposal because they want a guarantee that von Spakovsky, the Republican nominee, will be confirmed. Reid's proposal, if von Spakovsky was defeated, would not maintain parity on the commission, causing there to be more Democrats than Republicans.

"All four of the nominees need to be approved in tandem," McConnell said today. "This is the way we've always done it.  The FEC has three Republicans and three Democrats on purpose.  It prevents either side from exploiting the other. We've been prepared for literally months to approve all four. But, regretfully, some of the Democrats, at least, want to dictate to the Republicans who the Republican selections will be. That isn't going to happen.  We've always -- they picked theirs.  We picked ours.  And we approved both sets.  And that's the way this will go forward if it goes forward this time."

While he is technically blocking the votes on the grounds that there must be an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on the commission, McConnell said Democrats are using the issue to hamper McCain.

"You might ask them if they have in mind trying to create problems for his campaign. It wouldn't surprise me if maybe that's what they do have in mind," said the Senate Minority Leader.

The nominees are: Robert Lenhard, David Mason, Hans von Spakovsky, Steven Walter.  They've all been pending nominees for over a year.  The White House agrees with McConnell to vote on the nominations as a package and not individually because they claim that's the precedent with FEC nominations and the commission will be balanced with three Democrats and three Republicans.

"During an important election year, it's critical for the FEC to be able to effectively administer and enforce federal campaign finance laws. Unfortunately, some members of the Senate continue to prefer to play political games that obstruct the confirmation process and prevent highly qualified individuals from serving at the FEC. We continue to call upon the Senate to swiftly confirm the FEC nominees," said White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore.

Von Spakovsky is really the hold up.  He is a controversial former Department of Justice official who was put on the FEC two years ago by a temporary recess appointment and then he was re-nominated with the others last year.  Some Democrats, including Obama, say Von Spakovsky promoted policies at Department of Justice that harmed minority voters.

"Hans von Spakovsky's record speaks for itself. He should not serve on the panel responsible for protecting the integrity of federal elections," Obama wrote in an op-ed colum on October 8, 2007.  "The United States Senate must stand firm in our commitment to fighting the disenfranchisement of minority voters and reject this nominee."

However, Lawrimore called von Spakovsky "a good leader" and said, "over the past two years--which includes his tenure--the FEC has conducted the most vigorous enforcement program in the agency's history. Commissioner von Spakovsky has contributed significantly to the FEC's record of accomplishment and he should continue to have the opportunity to serve in this important role."

February 26, 2008 in McCain, John, Obama, Barack | Permalink | User Comments (1)

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Posted by: mims | Feb 27, 2008 7:01:13 PM

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