This is according to Robert Gibbs, as reported by Sam Stein at The Huffington Post:
President Obama is increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of confirmation for his judicial and executive appointees, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
Gibbs expressed the administration’s discontent with what he deemed a deliberate commitment to obstructionism by Republicans in the Senate. But he added that he was not aware of any effort by the president’s legislative staff to draft legislative language to dampen the use or effectiveness of the filibuster.
“We have put a number of people into government in the first year,” Gibbs said, in a response to a question by the Huffington Post. “But at the same time we have seen a pacing in dealing with nominations, both for the executive branch and judicial nominations that, I think, by almost any estimation would be deemed slow.”
As Gibbs briefed reporters, sources said that the White House will push to re-nominate seven of those judicial and political appointees who have been held up in the Senate, including Dawn Johnsen, the controversial nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel.
I’m sorry, but I find this astounding. If Obama’s been “frustrated” at not having his nominees confirmed, why has he said nothing about it until now? And why has he kept Dawn Johnsen, in particular, twisting in the wind for an entire year of her life?
Look, Johnsen is a superb choice to head the Office of Legal Counsel — she always has been. And I hope Obama does renominate her. But only if he intends to fight for her. Because to renominate her now and then pull the football away again would be truly unforgivable.
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