Bush Urges Senate to Confirm 200 Naz.., err, Nominees, stop treating them as 'pawns'

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Bush Urges Senate to Confirm Picks for Federal Posts (Update1)

By Holly Rosenkrantz

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. Senate must promptly vote on his backlog of some 200 nominees, including three for the Federal Reserve Board, and stop treating them like ``political pawns.''

``The confirmation process has turned into a never-ending political game where everyone loses,'' Bush said in a statement at the White House. ``It is clear that the process is not working.''

The vacancies to be filled also include two on the White House Council of Economic Advisers and 28 judgeships. Some nominees have been waiting more than two years, Bush said.

``The three-member Council of Economic Advisers is down to one person, which makes for lonely council meetings,'' Bush said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday that senators are reluctant to vote on many nominees because approval would put them in office well past Bush's presidency. To confirm them ``would greatly limit the ability of a new president to change the direction of those boards through new appointments,'' he said.

Reid said Democrats won't allow Bush's nominees to fill three vacant Federal Reserve posts for full 14-year terms.

``Democrats, and I think the majority of Americans, think that the nation desperately needs a new direction on the economy,'' he said. ``I don't think they want to ensure that the legacy of the president's bad economic policies live on for 14 years through his Fed nominees.'' ....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aT7g_qgSW9yk&refer=home