In yet another bow to the party that didn't vote for him, President Obama has been nominating a number of U.S. attorneys recommended by Republican legislators and opposed by Democrats (h/t AMERICAblog commenter keysdan for this story).
Let's start with MainJustice.com (my emphasis everywhere; I also closed up several one-sentence paragraphs, cause you know, this isn't the sports pages):
The Barack Obama administration will consider another Republican nomination for a U.S. Attorney position – the latest case of the Democratic administration deferring to Republican-recommended appointees.Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Hope & Change at work. We can only hope he changes. Don't you wish he were working for you?
The Obama administration is vetting David Barlow, currently the legal counsel to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), for potential appointment as U.S. Attorney for Utah, the Salt Lake Tribute reported.
On Friday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced that he recommended Barlow to the White House. ... Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, told the Tribune that Barlow’s nomination ignored the state's many talented Democratic attorneys, some of whom he recommended to the White House himself.
And this isn't the first time the White House has ignored its party's suggestions for U.S. attorney nominees. President Barack Obama snubbed Texas Democrats last month by nominating Republican picks for all four U.S. Attorney's Offices in Texas. ... Home-state senators typically recommend candidates to the White House, unless both of the state's senators are of different parties than the president – as in the case of Utah and Texas. In those cases, the administration usually looks to its party's House members for recommendations, but Obama has bucked that trend with recent nominations.
One of those Texas appointments is "particularly disappointing" to Democrats. Here's Chron.com, writing from the Lone Star State:
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Lee Pitman of Austin is expected to be picked by the president to serve as U.S. attorney in the Western District, which includes San Antonio, Del Rio and El Paso, Texas lawmakers confirmed. ... All four nominees were recommended to Obama by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, both Texas Republicans.Both of the links above are thanks to dKos diarist ffour.
A rift between the senators and Democrats in the U.S. House emerged for judicial selection early in the president’s term. Democrats had sought other candidates for appointment in some of the state’s judicial districts.
Although the White House assured the state’s Democrats that they would be consulted on judicial selections, the executive branch also has worked with the GOP senators[.] ... “The administration has disregarded its previous agreement and our hope for more change in the Texas justice system after decades of total Republican domination,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin. ... “It is particularly disappointing to see the unwarranted rejection of our recommendation of Houston attorney Larry Veselka,” Doggett said.
Hmm — "more change in the Texas justice system after decades of total Republican domination." Think there's a moral component to that? I do.
As ffour points out:
May be Orrin Hatch and John Cornyn will have some good recommendations for the SCOTUS in 2012-2016.Why not? He's getting all the practice he needs.
GP
