The Republicans have filibustered the nomination of David Hayes to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior. The move comes after Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) had put a hold on Hayes, supposedly because of the Obama Interior Department’s decision to cancel oil and gas leases in Utah.
Holds, though, are informal–honored as a matter of courtesy within the Senate–and it seems like what happened is that the GOP blocked cloture in order to ensure that Bennett’s hold wasn’t ignored. We’ll have more for you on that later today, but Bennett himself has said he’d lift the hold and vote for Hayes if and when the Interior Department addresses the cancellation of those leases.
The final tally was 57-39, with 60 votes required to end debate. CNN reported that if Hayes’ nomination couldn’t overcome this procedural hurdle, it would fail. But that’s not necessarily true. Among the 39 senators voting to filibuster Hayes was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid–not, of course, because he opposes Hayes, but because it keeps Hayes’ chances alive. That vote will allow him to bring the issue back to the floor at a later date when, presumably, the conflict is resolved.
