Obama pick for Interior deputy blocked

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Obama pick for Interior deputy blocked
5
Wed, 05-13-2009 - 1:55pm

The Associated Press: Republicans block Obama pick for Interior deputy


Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department Wednesday in a dispute over oil and gas leases, but Democrats signaled they would soon make a second attempt to win confirmation.


The 57-39 vote was three short of the 60 needed to advance David Hayes past Republican objections, and made him the first of Obama's top-level nominees to be sidetracked on the Senate floor.


Hayes, an environmental lawyer picked by Obama to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior Department, held the same post during the last three years of the Clinton administration. He also led Obama's natural resources transition team, responsible for naming a new Interior Department head.


Republican opposition to Hayes' nomination was led by Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah, who expressed anger over Secretary Ken Salazar's recent decision to revoke 77 oil and gas leases in his state. He was joined by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who raised questions about the administration's plans for oil and gas development and objected to recent reversals of several Bush-era rules on endangered species and mountaintop mining.


* "It may be uncomfortable for some to watch us have to clean up mess after mess — from corruption to lawbreaking — that is the previous administration's legacy at Interior, but to cast a vote against such a qualified and fine person is the height of cynicism," Salazar said in a statement following the vote.


Rodell Mollineau, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Democrats would make a second attempt to gain 60 votes at a future date to be determined. Three Democrats, Sens. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland as well as John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, did not vote. Their presence would have left Hayes with 60 votes, the total needed to overcome GOP objections.


Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Murkowski, said that the senator had hopes that the disagreements could be worked out with Interior.


*Accusations Of Sex, Drugs, Graft At Interior Dept. : NPR


The Interior Department's inspector general has described a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" at a government office that manages income from oil drilling in the United States.


The reports focus on an office in Denver that is part of the Minerals Management Service, which handles payments from oil and gas companies for their drilling. It's one of the federal government's biggest sources of income, apart from taxes.


According to the reports, office employees accepted tens of thousands of dollars in gifts, and they "used cocaine and marijuana and had sexual relations with oil and gas company representatives." More see link....

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-20-2009
Wed, 05-13-2009 - 2:44pm

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I wonder why? Isn't that why we taxpayers pay them the big bucks? (At least $174,000/yr plus many perks). It would seem to me that the Democrats and Obama should be pissed at these three!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
Wed, 05-13-2009 - 10:27pm

Kennedy is quite ill, so if he doesn't show to vote, I would be okay with that. Hopefully, he will live long enough to vote on a bill leading to universal health care. Kerry and Mikulski are another issue altogether. It would be interesting to know where they were when to vote was taken.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Wed, 05-13-2009 - 11:54pm

~I wonder why?~


Kennedy is ill, and Kerry was at the funeral of Tyler Trahan, 22, of from East Freetown, MA (who was killed in action).

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 05-14-2009 - 8:54am

Perhaps a replacement for Senator Kennedy is in order.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
Thu, 05-14-2009 - 10:39am
Well...his cancer is likely terminal, so I think we'll see a replacement soon after he passes on. Supposedly, he still works policy from his home/bedside, so he's still contributing at some level.