Shelby Releases Hold On Obama Nominees

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama will stop blocking Senate confirmation of about 70 government appointees nominated by President Barack Obama, his office said.

Shelby had placed "holds" on most of Obama's nominees, delaying the Senate from acting on them, in a dispute over federal spending involving his state.

"The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security – the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center," Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo said in a statement Monday night.

Shelby wants the tanker and the new FBI explosives center to be built in Alabama. Senators frequently block individual appointments, but Shelby's blanket hold was unusual.

Now that he has gotten Obama's attention, Graffeo said, "Sen. Shelby has decided to release his holds on all but a few nominees directly related to the Air Force tanker acquisition."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday, "If you needed one example of what's wrong with this town, it might be that one senator can hold up 70 qualified individuals to make government better because he didn't get his earmarks."

Graffeo denied that Shelby's demands revolved around earmarks. Regarding the Air Force tankers, the spokesman said Shelby "is seeking to ensure an open, fair and transparent competition that delivers the best equipment to our men and women in uniform."

Graffeo said the explosives center would help the FBI deal with a 20-year backlog in "forensic evidence that could help us identify and hunt down terrorists."

"Sen. Shelby is fully justified in his concern that the Obama administration is seeking to rescind funds already appropriated for this vital national security purpose," Graffeo said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said last week that Shelby's move was holding up about 70 appointments, including a critical top Defense Department position overseeing deployments to the war in Afghanistan.

A senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Shelby has built his career on steering spending earmarks to Alabama.

Shelby can't single-handedly defeat Obama's nominations. But by forcing time-consuming votes on each one, he can delay them indefinitely.

Comments

[Alison Kurke]

03:47 AM on 02/12/2010

When will Shelby release his hold on his hair dye bottle? Cretin.

[gypsysailor]

08:58 PM on 02/09/2010

I'm from Alabama and I neither voted for nor do I support Sen. Toady. Not once since he has been in office has he done anthing to help the bluecollar folks in the state. He is backed by the evangelica­ls because of his stance on abortion and by big business that he provides our tax dollars too. He is anti-union­, anti-healt­h care reform, refuses to provide help for the people who live west of I-65. He has been bought and paid for.

[kojoman]

07:56 PM on 02/09/2010

WOW!! $5 to 35 million dollars a year, I can't even imagine that much money... But then I am not a U. S. Senator. :-(
Make one wonder if voters in Alabama (and other republican states senators) are as well off as their Senator? And If not, why don’t we hear from them?

[Stuzzadelic]

05:17 PM on 02/09/2010

Shelby needs to resign immediatel­y. His actions directly weakened America's national security and made her less safe, all over partisan greed.

[ReedYoung]

04:26 PM on 02/09/2010

"(A spokesman claims that Dick Shelby) is seeking to ensure an open, fair and transparen­t competitio­n that delivers the best equipment to our men and women in uniform."

The Forest Service? Judges? Obviously he means "soldiers" but it just seems weird that he doesn't use the common term. What's the point of mentioning their uniforms? Kooky.

[oldpol2]

08:03 PM on 02/09/2010

Shelby neglects to mention several things. The company who would build this tanker would be airbus. So although some payroll dollars would go to some America workers the bulk of the funds would go to a european company which is subsidized by european government­s. The competitor is Boeing so there will still be wages for American workers and the company making the money would be American. The other problem is the original design requiremen­ts were followed by Boeing and they were not followed by Airbus. As always there is more than meets the eye than what Shelby is squaking about.

[gilbskg]

10:30 PM on 02/09/2010

Sure wish more people knew about this.

[farmilyman]

03:41 PM on 02/09/2010

Shelby needs to take up mime lessons and move to France if he favors them so much.

[lessbs]

03:39 PM on 02/09/2010

Shelby--a man who has worked in the public sector most of his life but whose filings show a net worth of between $5 million and $35 million. How was that wealth accumulate­d--I'll give you three guesses.

[x27]

04:26 PM on 02/09/2010

That is a wide range,can you narrow it a bit?5 seems plausible,­35?,not at his job

[lessbs]

05:01 PM on 02/09/2010

That is the range he checked on the form US Senators are required to file. This is the informatio­n that is readily available. I think it is difficult if not impossible to save those kind of numbers from his government salaries.

[ladbrady]

03:23 PM on 02/09/2010

NO No NO more Pork for Mr. Shelby!

[ReedYoung]

04:50 PM on 02/09/2010

Agreed.

About the trouble you mentioned getting your comments through moderation­, they're pretty tough on ALL CAPITALS. If you emphasize *important­* words with *asterisks­* you'll probably have *better* luck. And, in my *opinion* that provides *better* visual emphasis anyway.

:-)

[BlackBuddha]

03:17 PM on 02/09/2010

Palin/Shel­by 2012

No Hope for Change!

[dlswriter]

06:12 PM on 02/09/2010

Hi BlackBuddh­a:

Great bumper sticker, but shouldn't it read:

No Hopey for Changey!

Just wondering.

[Justdontgetit]

03:14 PM on 02/09/2010

Losely paraphrase­d:

Shelby is such a gentleman, I'll bet he takes the dishes out of the sink before he p's in it.

So much concern for the US since he's been holding up American concerns for the benefit of a company from France.

[ladbrady]

03:11 PM on 02/09/2010

PLEASE STOP CENSORING MY POSTS. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

[ladbrady]

03:10 PM on 02/09/2010

"The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security – the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisitio­n and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center," Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo said in a statement Monday night.

Oh, so that's why he did it.

[MED1025]

03:08 PM on 02/09/2010

I wonder if Shelby eats Freedom Fries?

[gman87]

02:52 PM on 02/09/2010

Just want to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Obama administra­tion's whining about Senate holds:

In 2005 Obama held up the appointmen­t of Susan Bodine to head the EPA Office that manages Superfund and emergency cleanup programs.

In Sep 2006 Obama held up the appointmen­t of Robert L. Wilkie for DoD Assist Sec

In Oct 2007 he held up the appointmen­t of Hans von Spakovsky to the FEC

In 2005 and 2006 Obama voted to hold up confirmati­on of Janice Rogers Brown and Bill Pryor to the federal bench. He also voted to delay the confirmati­ons of Samuel Alito to SCOTUS and John Bolton as US UN rep. These attempted "hold up" filibuster­s were over-ridde­n, with the exception of Bolton's ( he received a recess appointmen­t). I'm sure Alito relishes sticking it to Obama, but that issue is for another day.

Source: Washington Post, 4 Feb, by Ed O'Keefe

[gladys46]

02:56 PM on 02/09/2010

I wish he had held up Bush's selection ... that would have been a good thing too!!!

[miriamfl]

03:03 PM on 02/09/2010

All of Georgie Porgies nominees were never for We The People. His nominees are corporate biased and that is why he did not vote for Alito or Roberts, Bolton was terrible and not well respected.

[JoeBlough]

02:51 PM on 02/09/2010

Why does Shelby want to create a jobs program for the French, but not for Americans?

[miriamfl]

02:55 PM on 02/09/2010

Because he is paid and bought by these companies. We no longer have representa­tives for We The People. The representa­tives in Washington and particular­ly in the Senate represent corporate america, they don't give a hoot about We The People.