It looks like Republicans on the Senate Judiciary committee have won at least a partial victory in that battle with Judiciary chair Pat Leahy over the timing of confirmation hearings for Eric Holder, Barack Obama’s nominee for Attorney General.
In a press release sent moments ago, Leahy wrote the he was delaying the hearings, and made clear he wasn’t happy about it:
The Committee has not yet received the names of other designees for high-ranking Department of Justice officials that we had anticipated and more time is now available to the Judiciary Committee. Therefore, to accommodate the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, at their request we are delaying the hearing, again, until January 15.
…It is disappointing to me that they are insisting that we delay at a time when the nation needs its top law enforcement officer and national security team in place and working.
The delay is only a week, since Leahy had been planning to begin the hearings on January 8. He had argued that, after the politicization of the Bush years, it’s particularly important for fresh leadership to be installed quickly.
The committee’s GOP minority, led by Arlen Specter, has been arguing that Leahy’s schedule doesn’t allow enough time to review documents pertaining to Holder’s role in the controversial pardon of Marc Rich in the waning days of the Clinton administration.
The dispute had gotten unusually pointed for an intra-committee disagreement. Leahy, in a letter to Specter, implied that the Republican’s trip to Europe and the middle east this month was a congressionally sponsored junket. Leahy also dredged up a year-old quote from Republican Jon Kyl, arguing for a speedy confirmation of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General, which appears to contrast with today’s GOP position on Holder. In announcing the delay today, Leahy again brought up Kyl’s quote on Mukasey.
The full release follows after the jump…
Holder Hearing Rescheduled
WASHINGTON (Monday, Dec. 15, 2008) – In an effort to accommodate Senate Republicans, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has postponed the confirmation hearing for Eric H. Holder Jr., to be the Attorney General of the United States for more than 30 days from today, January 15, 2009.
“The Committee has not yet received the names of other designees for high-ranking Department of Justice officials that we had anticipated and more time is now available to the Judiciary Committee. Therefore, to accommodate the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, at their request we are delaying the hearing, again, until January 15. The Assistant Republican Leader said last year that ‘attorney general nominees have been confirmed, on average, in approximately three weeks.’ Nonetheless, in order to accommodate the Republicans members, I am rescheduling the hearing on Mr. Holder for twice that long, until more than six weeks after his official designation. It is disappointing to me that they are insisting that we delay at a time when the nation needs its top law enforcement officer and national security team in place and working. I trust that with this additional time to prepare, they will cooperate in proceeding promptly to Committee and Senate consideration of the historic Holder nomination as Democrats did for President Bush.”
The hearing has been rescheduled for January 15, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. in the historic Senate Caucus Room, room 325 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The hearing will be webcast live online.
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