Dem FEC Nominee Withdraws, Leading to Further DelayThings were already looking pretty hopeless for the FEC, but they just got bleaker. In a letter to White House chief of staff Josh Bolten today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says that Robert Lenhard, one of the Democratic nominees for the commission, has withdrawn his name because of the ongoing stalemate.
It will most likely take “several months” to replace Lenhard, Reid writes, meaning that it’s sure to be awhile before Democrats and Republicans can agree on a batch of nominees. Not that there have been any signs of hope anyway: Democrats continue to insist that the Senate vote on vote-suppression guru Hans von Spakovsky separately from the other three nominees, and Republicans refuse to allow that.
Meanwhile, the fracas over John McCain’s withdrawal from public financing goes unresolved and outside groups are mounting up without worry of any imminent harassment from the FEC.
Update: By way of explanation, Lenhard has landed a gig (sub. req.) at the mega firm Covington & Burling.