Great stuff from Dawn Johnsen in the Washington Post this morning, as she offers thoughts on her withdrawn nomination to head up the Office of Legal Counsel, and more critically, a dissection of why six years is far too long to not have a legitimate leader of this oft-derided, oft-misunderstood position.
Put plainly, the OLC must be willing to say no to the president under any circumstances. The office does the president no favors by allowing its legal analysis to be twisted by policy or partisan preferences, even in the midst of crisis, as the months after Sept. 11 undoubtedly were.
With rare exceptions, in administrations of both parties, the OLC has adhered to this essential principle. The torture memo and related advice are one of the unfortunate exceptions. The office undermined the rule of law, its own traditions, and the reputation and goals of the administration it advised -- which disavowed the memo when it leaked, after two years -- when it suggested that the president could direct employees acting on behalf of the United States to engage in torture notwithstanding a federal statute criminalizing such treatment.
I'd recommend reading the whole thing. While there have been those on our side who have tossed most of the blame for Prof. Johnsen's nomination on the President's back, I still maintain -- with no real evidence to back me up -- that Republican obstructionism at every legislative level accounts for most of the disaster. Obstructionism on economic stimulus gave way to obstructionism on health care reform which gave way to obstructionism on financial reform.
And in the midst of this cascade of clusterfucks, an undeniably necessary legal position has remained unfilled while the White House continues their increasingly uphill climb. To be sure, there could (and likely should) have been more support and leadership emanating from the Oval Office throughout this whole thing, but right or wrong, President Obama has been wholly preoccupied navigating political landmines that have all-too-often lacked any purpose other than to bring to a halt the forward momentum of our elected government.
Strong stuff from the Old Gray Lady, who takes aim at Republican shenangians (and the White House) over the failed nomination of IU Professor Dawn Johnsen to head up the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department.
The White House let Ms. Johnsen twist in the wind for more than a year and then chose to abandon her nomination rather than get into a battle over an appointment just before Mr. Obama makes his second nomination to the Supreme Court.
Ms. Johnsen's withdrawal comes amid an effort by Liz Cheney, the former vice president's daughter, and others on the far right to smear lawyers in the Obama Justice Department who previously did work for detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. That campaign, and the ill treatment of Ms. Johnsen, send a chilling message to lawyers and others who might be willing to do government service: don't stand on principle and certainly don't speak out in public.
Not exactly earth-shattering news, but encouraging words via an unnamed source in the Obama administration regarding the stalled nomination of Indiana University Professor Dawn Johnsen to head up White House legal operations.
While not included on the recess appointment list, a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said future recess appointments could be possible if the Senate doesn't move more quickly once it returns April 12.
"Of the 77 people on the calendar, we are only recess appointing 15, and there are a number of qualified individuals the president has nominated that do not fall in this group," the official wrote in an e-mail to Indiana Lawyer.
"If the Republicans do not end their campaign of obstruction, the president reserves the option of exerting his authority to recess appoint qualified individuals in the future, but our hope is that we can move beyond the partisan politics that have held up the process for the last 15 months for the good of the American people."
After facing months of Republican obstruction to administration nominees, President Obama announced his intent to recess appoint fifteen nominees to fill critical administration posts that have been left vacant, including key positions on the economic team and on boards that have been left with vacancies for months.
“The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees. But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis,” said President Barack Obama. “Most of the men and women whose appointments I am announcing today were approved by Senate committees months ago, yet still await a vote of the Senate. At a time of economic emergency, two top appointees to the Department of Treasury have been held up for nearly six months. I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.”
Obama Administration appointees have faced an unprecedented level of obstruction in the Senate.
President Obama currently has a total of 217 nominees pending before the Senate. These nominees have been pending for an average of 101 days, including 34 nominees pending for more than 6 months.
The 15 nominees President Obama intends to recess appoint have been pending for an average of 214 days or 7 months for a total of 3204 days or almost 9 years.
President Bush had made 15 recess appointments by this point in his presidency, but he was not facing the same level of obstruction. At this time in 2002, President Bush had only 5 nominees pending on the floor. By contrast, President Obama has 77 nominees currently pending on the floor, 58 of whom have been waiting for over two weeks and 44 of those have been waiting more than a month.
Jill Long Thompson: Nominee for Member, Farm Credit Administration Board
Jill Long Thompson is a former Member of the United States House of Representatives and the former Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. She also served as Chief Executive Officer and Senior Fellow at The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, a not-for-profit, non-advocacy research and policy organization. She is the first and only woman to be nominated by a major party to run for Governor in Indiana, as well as the first and only Hoosier woman to be nominated by a major party to run for the United States Senate. Long Thompson joined the faculty at Valparaiso University in 1981 and in 1983 was elected to the City Council. In 1989 Long Thompson was elected to represent Northeast Indiana in Congress. She went on to serve three terms in the House, where she was a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. She introduced one of the nation’s first pieces of legislation banning Members of Congress from accepting gifts and expanding the disclosure requirements for lobbying activities. After leaving Congress, Long Thompson was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. In her five years at USDA, she oversaw a $10 billion annual budget and 7,000 employees while managing a number of programs that provide services to the underserved areas of rural America. Long Thompson earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Valparaiso University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Business from the Kelley School at Indiana University.
The Hill takes an interesting look at the ongoing partisan war over the nomination of Indiana University School of Law's Dawn Johnsen to head up the White House Office of Legal Counsel.
In short, Republicans have spun themselves into a corner in their rush to portray Professor Johnsen's criticism of the Bush Administration's torture policies as a deal-breaker.
"Those issues indicate the importance of the OLC position and the need to have someone of innate experience in that position," Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said.
Added Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah): "In this day and age, someone is always going to say you're a hypocrite, but [Johnsen's] positions are off the wall."
But the argument is a tricky one for Republicans, who in making their case against Johnsen open themselves up to criticism for actions taken during the Bush years. The same report they cite in support of their effort to block Johnsen, one of President Barack Obama's most controversial nominees, was critical of the office during the Bush administration.
Tricky, indeed. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse didn't waste much time taking the bait:
"It's a remarkable exercise in backwards logic," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said. "Their argument states that because our party went and wrecked the place, we don't want your party going in there."
More positive movement in the Senate as Indiana University School of Law professor Dawn Johnsen awaits confirmation as head of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. I'm not sure whether we should be thanking Sen. Arlen Specter or his primary challenger Rep. Joe Sestak.
Rep. Joe Sestak, who is challenging Sen. Arlen Specter for the Democratic nomination, sent an e-mail to supporters today about Dawn Johnsen. Johnsen, an Indiana University at Bloomington law professor, is President Barack Obama's pick to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and last year Specter helped delay Johnsen's nomination. Specter was the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time.
Sestak, addressing Specter in the e-mail, writes that Specter has another shot to support Johnsen now that Obama is set to renominate her.
In response, Specter's office offered this statement:
"After voting 'pass' (which means no position) in the Judiciary Committee, I had a second extensive meeting with Ms. Johnsen and have been prepared to support her nomination when it reaches the Senate floor."
Better late than never, I suppose.
Whoops: Wrote this before my third cup of coffee, and just noticed DA had already posted something in the diaries. Check it out.
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) says he's revisited his initial concerns over Obama Justice Department nominee Dawn Johnsen, and has decided to support her confirmation.
"After voting 'pass' (which means no position) in the Judiciary Committee, I had a second extensive meeting with Ms. Johnsen and have been prepared to support her nomination when it reaches the Senate floor," reads a statement Specter sent to TPMDC.
With Senator Lugar's committment to vote in support of fellow Hoosier, Ms. Johnsen, this means that she is likely to be confirmed, overcoming a potential filibuster by Republicans and anti-choice Democrat Ben Nelson. Credit for Specter's change of heart is being credited to a primary challenge from Specter's left by Congressman Joe Sestak.
Kudos to President Obama for standing behind good candidates:
President Obama will renominate Dawn Johnsen to lead the Justice Department’s powerful Office of Legal Counsel, along with his choices for five other jobs that the Senate did not act on last year, a White House official said Thursday.
Ms. Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor who served as acting head of the office in the Clinton administration, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March. But the full Senate never voted on her nomination.
Both Senator Lugar and Senator Bayh support Ms. Johnsen. However, she is opposed by conservatives because she (horror of all horrors) worked for an abortion rights group in the past. Senator Nelson of Nebraska and Senator Specter of Pennsylvania, both Democrats, also oppose her nomination. I'm guessing Nelson's objection is also based on abortion since he was the sponsor of the anti-choice amendment to the health care reform bill, but I have no idea what Arlen Specter's concerns are. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, failed to bring her nomination to the floor.
We've already discussed here the undeniable qualifications of President Obama's nominee to head up his office of legal counsel.
Indiana University's own Dawn Johnsen possesses a great professional reputation, an impressive CV to back it up, and most recently the support of Senator Richard Lugar in a confirmation process that has stretched far beyond the initial calendar.
And based on an update sent to the student body of Indiana University's Maurer School of Law last night, a few more months may remain before Professor Johnsen takes her place in Washington. From the description of a class to be offered this fall, and taught by Dawn Johnsen:
Requirements include a research paper (which satisfies the advanced
research requirement). No exam. All class meetings will be held before Fall Break, beginning with five three-hour meetings to discuss assigned reading. Students will devote the remainder of the semester to their research papers.
As happy as I am to have the opportunity to take a class from the good professor, here's to hoping her stay is as brief as advertised.
The Republican caucus of the General Assembly apparently has quite a bit of time on their hands despite that whole "couldn't pass a budget" thing. Left to their own devices, the group couldn't help themselves but needlessly weigh in on a national political issue completely beyond their control.
Thirty-one Republican state senators have asked U.S. Sens. Evan Bayh and Dick Lugar to oppose the nomination of an Indiana University law professor nominated by President Barack Obama for a senior position in the U.S. Department of Justice.
In a letter May 15, the state senators said Dawn Johnsen's advocacy of abortion rights "is more than simply pro-choice -- she is pro-choice in an extremely radical way."
[...]
"It's a statement from a very strong pro-life caucus," said Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne. "It is not based on the fact she is pro-choice, it is based on the fact that she is radically so."
No, it's a statement from a very weak caucus that finds itself all too often being yanked around by its wedge issue overlords.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that Dawn Johnsen is eminently qualified for the position she has been nominated to fill. Putting away for the sake of conversation the bipartisan support she has accumulated -- including both Sens. Bayh and Lugar. All that aside, I can't help but wonder: Shouldn't these GOP state senators have something better to do?
Our state economy is in the shitter, our fiscal solvency is in doubt in many areas, and you yahoos just used your passive-aggressive prowess to land yourself in a special legislative session at the whim of a chief executive who appears to be just as dominating of your caucus as, say, the pro-life activists who ordered you into this little stunt.
All logos and trademarks in this site
are property of their respective owner.
The comments are property of their posters, and
all other site content may be used for any purpose
without explicit permission
unless otherwise specified.
