In right-wing circles, they have a mantra: No more David Souters. It’s intended to be a reminder about what can happen when Republicans let their guard down, take a president’s word at face value, and allow an ambiguous nomination to proceed without due diligence. Similarly, Dems seem to have found a new mantra of their own: No more Michael Browns.
The Dems’ principles are similar, albeit less ideological. Republicans want to prevent moderates from serving on the Supreme Court; Dems want to prevent incompetent cronies from serving in key federal agencies. To appreciate how seriously Dems are taking this approach, consider their scrutiny of Ellen Sauerbrey, Bush’s nominee to head the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that it was odd, to put it mildly, that the president would nominate Sauerbrey for the job, despite the fact that she has literally no background in setting up refugee camps, delivering emergency supplies, and mobilizing international responses to humanitarian crises. Her only “qualification” seems to be that she’s a Republican activist looking for a job in the administration.
Dems told her yesterday that this isn’t good enough.
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee pummeled veteran Republican politician Ellen R. Sauerbrey yesterday over her qualifications to head the State Department’s refugee program. […]
Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.), whose staff played a key role in organizing opposition to Sauerbrey, named previous holders of the post, noting that many had extensive expertise in refugee matters. “It’s really raising the question about the qualifications that you bring to handle this refugee issue,” he said.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said: “I think the concern here is just that the issues of refugee relief are a very specific and extraordinarily difficult task, and it doesn’t appear that this is an area where you have specific experience.”
Reports indicate that Senate Republicans are inclined to do what Bush asks and will vote to confirm Sauerbrey despite her lack of skills or abilities. Still, it’s good to see at least some progress here. A few years ago, nominations like these were effectively rubber-stamped out of committee with minimal scrutiny. That’s exactly what happened with “Brownie.”
At a minimum, if Sauerbrey’s tenure is a disaster, Dems won’t have to wonder how they failed to ask the right questions at the right time. Now if we could only get their GOP colleagues to take their oversight responsibilities seriously, we’d really be getting somewhere.