President Obama on Wednesday criticized Republican senators for using legislative tactics to delay confirmation votes on several nominees for reasons unrelated to their qualifications, the Washington Post reports. During a Senate Democratic Conference question-and-answer session, Obama said there is "a huge backlog of folks who are unanimously viewed as well qualified -- nobody has a specific objection to them -- but end up having a hold on them because of some completely unrelated piece of business."

According to the Post, Senate rules allow members to place a hold on nominees at any time for any reason, effectively blocking the chamber's consideration of the nominee. The holds are often placed privately, which makes it difficult to track their use.

The president's remarks came a day before the Senate is scheduled to vote on some nominees, including Patricia Smith, nominated as the Labor Department's head lawyer, and Martha Johnson, nominated to head the General Services Administration. Senate aides said other confirmation votes could be held on Thursday, while more might occur next week (O'Keefe, Washington Post, 2/4).

Dems Anxious for Vote on Johnsen

According to Roll Call, Democrats "privately are eager" for the Obama administration to urge votes on controversial nominees like Dawn Johnsen, selected to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice (Brady, Roll Call, 2/3). Johnsen was originally nominated for the position in March 2009, but Republicans delayed a full Senate vote on her confirmation over questions regarding her past legal work for abortion-rights groups and her positions on various national security issues. Her nomination expired in late 2009, and the White House resubmitted it early this year (Women's Health Policy Report, 1/13).

A total of 1,877 of Obama's nominees in 2009 were left unconfirmed by the Senate, compared with 791 of President George W. Bush's first-year nominees. A vast majority of presidential nominees are uncontroversial military appointments. However, Democrats are "openly frustrated" that Republican holds have forced them to use time-consuming procedural tactics to confirm 14 of Obama's nominees, Roll Call reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Senate floor on Tuesday criticized Republicans for such delays, saying, "This is another one of the endless delays we've had to go through here." He added, "We've had so many 30 hours of doing nothing that it's hard to comprehend the wasted time of all the staff. Senators' time could be put to better use" (Roll Call, 2/3).

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