Although her confirmation process has been stalled for months now, Dawn Johnsen seems confident that she’s poised for a breakthrough. Maybe. Johnsen–who was nominated in April to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel–has been spotted around Washington in recent days, and is rumored to have moved in to town. And she’s certainly not here to work for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
For all intents and purposes–and thanks to the support of Republican Dick Lugar–Johnsen hasn’t needed a ton of extra GOP support. For a while, Nelson himself was the key roadblock and he endured a lot of criticism as a result. But with his cloture vote looking more likely, now–and with Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) in poor health–Johnsen’s confirmation now rests on the support of Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. And their reluctance is at least as puzzling as Nelson’s.
Nelson, after all, is a pro-life Democrat from a conservative state, and, whether or not these concerns are sincere, Johnsen’s detractors cite her history of pro-choice advocacy as their main grounds for opposition. But Collins and Snowe are pro-choice. And, moreover, they both have a consistent record of opposing the obstruction of executive branch nominees. Both Collins and Snowe voted to end every filibuster of Clinton and George W. Bush nominees. (Earlier this year, Collins supported a brief filibuster of Interior Department hopeful David Hayes, after Sen. Harry Reid ignored the objections of Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) who had placed a hold on his nomination–but Hayes was ultimately confirmed, with little controversy, by voice vote.)
For Snowe and Collins to slow walk Johnsen like this doesn’t make much sense when you look at their records. But maybe Johnsen knows something we don’t know.
