Dawn Johnsen To Be Re-Nominated, Confirms White House

A White House official confirms what the Huffington Post reported on Wednesday -- that the administration is set to re-nominate Dawn Johnsen, the controversial nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel.

An administration aide sends over the following list of nominees whom the president plans to re-appoint after the Senate reconvenes on January 20th.

* Dawn Johnsen, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General (Legal Counsel), Department of Justice
* Chris Schroeder, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General (Legal Policy), Department of Justice
* Mary Smith, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General (Tax Division), Department of Justice
* Craig Becker, Nominee for Member of the National Labor Relations Board
* Louis Butler, Jr., Nominee for United States District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin
* Edward Chen, Nominee for United States District Judge for the Northern District of California

This is huge news for progressive activists who have longed to see the White House come to Johnsen's defense after her nomination was held up by a united Republican opposition and several skeptical Democratic senators. Johnsen was first nominated a year ago to take over the same position that Bush administration lawyers occupied when they effectively constructed legal arguments to authorize the use of torture. Her criticism of those past OLC officials has caused her appointment to be stalled. Rather than drop the effort altogether, the White House is now going to go back to the Senate and push for the necessary 60 votes to get her confirmed.

UPDATE: The progressive leaning judicial advocacy group, People For the American Way, released the following statement over the news of Johnsen's re-nomination:

"President Obama made an excellent choice in Professor Johnsen to lead OLC, and today he's shown his willingness to stand on principle and call the Republicans on their attack and delay tactics," said Marge Baker, Executive Vice President of People For the American Way. "President Obama's statement today is a refutation of the GOP's efforts to spin this eminently qualified nominee as a controversial choice, and he should be applauded. Professor Johnsen's legal scholarship, her integrity, her substantive knowledge, and her commitment to this nation's security and to the rule of law will serve this country well once she's confirmed."

FURTHER UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office tells the Huffington Post that Johnsen's nomination will have to go through the Judiciary Committee once again before she can get a vote from the full Senate.

Comments

[Lindsay Schutz]

07:39 PM on 01/10/2010

Stupid GOP is holding her up!!!

[Angry and Disgusted]

10:02 AM on 01/09/2010

Dawn Johnson's reappointm­ent by President Obama shows that's he learned very little from his thus-far disastrous first year in office. It is high time for Obama to stop pandering to the far-Left and demand moderate voices who also support the Constituti­on and rule of law. Ms. Johnson is a poor choice, and her nomination to this important position at the Department of Justice would even be reconsider­ed. Mr. President, when are you going to fire or demand the resignatio­n of your other radical-Le­ft appointmen­ts such as Kevin Jennings as "safe schools" czar, and Chai Feldblum? I really fear for our country, and I blame you, not Bush. Moderate to the center, don't keep pushing Progressiv­e and far-Left-o­f-Center appointmen­ts. Is anyone listening in the White House?

[miles120]

10:12 AM on 01/11/2010

Right from the Fox News talking points. Maybe we should appoint John Yoo to the Office of Legal Counsel? Would that make you happy?

[CigarGod]

05:31 PM on 01/08/2010

Good.
Let the GOP attack a smart, outspoken woman...wh­o attacks the status quo.
Someone is in administra­tion has to have guts.

[Paisano]

03:20 PM on 01/08/2010

Can he use a recess appointmen­t?

[washlib]

12:36 PM on 01/08/2010

am i the only one that finds her hot?

[J Robert Surface]

01:56 PM on 01/08/2010

me too

[Paisano]

03:19 PM on 01/08/2010

Oh no...I'd throw one into her!

[christopherflynn]

11:02 AM on 01/08/2010

geez, just appoint her when congress isn't in session...

[k6007]

09:28 AM on 01/08/2010

They hold up the nomination­s, then, they can complain about the czars. god Ihate republican­s.

[Ifticar2]

10:13 AM on 01/08/2010

Careful. Hate can consume you. Literally. Hate lowers your immune system. It makes you particular­ly susceptibl­e to cancer.

[Billar]

07:08 AM on 01/08/2010

Obama and Wall Street are trying to destroy Social Security. Check this out.

http://www­.thenation­.com/doc/2­0100111/gr­eider

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

09:08 AM on 01/08/2010

i trust bill greider

i dont trust wall street

and theyve owned obama since he was a senator

he raised much more from them than even hillary did - who was their senator.

you got suckered!

you folks just didnt want to see that truth

[washlib]

01:05 PM on 01/08/2010

untrue, we just didn't want to envision a ww3 with failen and mccane.

[StJames]

09:26 AM on 01/08/2010

Dismantlin­g Social Security is a long held Republican objective. The payroll taxes will need to be increased because Social Security is not a "pension fund" you have not been paying to buy yourself an annuity for your own retirement­. Rather the taxes collected today are paying for the SS checks cut today....I­t's the same as Medicare. Currently it takes 3.9 workers to pay for one Medicare beneficiar­y and in 2006 it was 3.3 workers for every Social Security recipient. The Baby Boom generation is 79 million strong...t­he first SS benefits to that group went out in 2008. By 2025 the entire generation will be eligible. There will be fewer workers available to pay for the benefits of that generation­...thus either taxes go up or benefits come down...or probably a combinatio­n of both.

The entire financial structure of the U.S. must be changed...­corporatio­ns should NOT be running the country and certainly not Banks. If drastic measure are not taken Social Security and Medicare will be dismantled as there will be no way to pay for them.

I despise the Republican Party and everyone too stupid to realize that they are screwing you over royally and voting for them. While I subscribe to The Nation I was appalled at the inaccuracy of the
statement "they have already paid for their benefits by paying higher payroll taxes" That is NOT how it works.

[istvan13]

09:50 AM on 01/08/2010

Excellent post, it's amazing to me how many people do not understand how Social Security works. This would include Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security and spinning the message to get people to believe this was their money to invest.

I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that the pension fund has a surplus when more money is going in than out. If the politician­s had left this money to grow we would not have any worries of insolvency­. Not that this is as large of an issue as the doomsayers try to get the ill informed to believe.

[Ifticar2]

06:37 AM on 01/08/2010

This is just another way for Obama to give congress the finger.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

09:09 AM on 01/08/2010

ah dude...for the next 11 months, till we lose it because of barry... its a democratic congress..­.think b4 hurling your gleeful insults!

[Ifticar2]

09:42 AM on 01/08/2010

It was this Democrat congress that rejected Ms Johnsen the first time around.

[Chardin]

03:41 AM on 01/08/2010

I certainly hope that she is confirmed. Her stand against torture is absolutely essential in that position.
Of course the GOP (Great Outrages of Punishment ) and possibly hawkish dems will fight it. They don't want to be held to account for their crimes against humanity . All that is hidden will come to light.
Like the Klan in the South, they simply cannot grasp that they are no longer in power and cannot lynch or torch whomever they please and bury the evidence in the dark of night. They certainly don't want to be called into the "principle­s" office.

How anyone in this modern day can support the heinous practice of torture is beyond me.

But it's no wonder the GOP fought health care reform. If they support human torture without so much as a blink of the eye, why would we think they would care about any member of humanity and their suffering? Unless of course, it might provide a good photo op.

[Salty 2]

01:35 PM on 01/08/2010

And the Dems. passed a health care bill that only healped the insurance co. Thats why their stock went up like a rocket the day it was passed. The Dems knew about waterboard­ing and did nothing. Thats old news, so keep beating that drum. But its O.K. to waterboard our own in training. Nobody has a problem when its us getting it. Maybe you should do some research and learn what real torture is. Which by the way happens on the battlefiel­d in war all the time, and always will . It is part of war. Always has been , always will be.

[allincompassing]

02:27 AM on 01/08/2010

I'm sorry, but i'll believe it when I see it! Rahm is afraid of Dawn, and thats a good thing!

[eddiesengola]

01:52 AM on 01/08/2010

I really like the picture of Dawn Johnsen. She kind of looks like a hippie, a very bright liberal to say the least.
I can't wait to get her nominated!

[Amalek]

06:49 AM on 01/08/2010

She looks hot Eddie, in that nasty girl next door way. The premature blue hair is a total turnon.

[washlib]

01:06 PM on 01/08/2010

whew! i'm not the only one!

[thomasjo]

09:48 AM on 01/08/2010

Y'know, I generally try to keep my comments substantiv­e, especially about important stuff like this, but yeah, she is pretty hot. Hopefully she's not Tim Geithner in an ethical hot girl suit.

[OneConservative]

12:51 AM on 01/08/2010

Another terrible pick. Obama acts like he has no decision-m­aking, executive experience­. Oh, never mind. We all know it. He has none.

[laddieluv]

01:03 AM on 01/08/2010

Take your pill, please.

[Poorsarah]

01:08 AM on 01/08/2010

Another good pick by President Obama; someone to make the GOPycrites squirm.

[OneConservative]

01:19 AM on 01/08/2010

I suppose you like Janet "the system worked" Napo too.....

[Salty 2]

01:36 PM on 01/08/2010

Thats a real good reason to nominate someone.

[bratcat]

12:41 AM on 01/08/2010

was she Crockett or Tubbs? I always get them mixed up.

[BocaMom]

12:36 AM on 01/08/2010

Another waste of time. Why does Obama continue to recommend flawed candidates­? He seems like such a novice.

[Bartel5]

12:47 AM on 01/08/2010

Tax cheats for treasury, criminals for TSA. At least he is consistent about it.

[oscartucker]

11:13 AM on 01/08/2010

Boca and Bartel=Tag Team Insulting, Faultfindi­ng, and Talking Points