Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) said last week that while she opposed defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, she would ultimately not join a filibuster of his nomination.
“I have the information I need,” Fischer told the Lincoln Journal Star in an interview. “If he doesn’t have the (additional) documents, he doesn’t have them. I do not question that.”
Fischer said the Senate needs to carry out its constitutional duty of “advice and consent” on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Hagel.
“I will do that by casting my vote on the floor,” she said.
“I don’t believe there is precedent for a filibuster” on a Cabinet nomination, she said.
On Thursday, however, Fischer joined such a filibuster temporarily blocking the nomination. The final vote was 58-40, with four Republicans — Sens. Mike Johanns (R-NE), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Thad Cochran (R-MS) — voting with the Democrats to end debate.
A spokesman for Fischer told TPM the senator wanted to allow Hagel more time to respond to additional requests of her colleagues.
“As you know, a number of her colleagues have asked for additional information from the nominee,” a Fischer aide said. “Senator Hagel had previously indicated he lacked any further information to turn over, but some diligence and Googling by a handful of Senate staffers managed to uncover six speeches that were not reported to the Committee. So, while Senator Fischer has sufficient information on which to base her ultimate vote – and supports an eventual up–or–down vote on the nominee – she voted today to provide Senator Hagel with more time to comply with the requests of her colleagues.”
