Bailout

Source: Senators Assume Bunning Placed Hold On Barofsky Nomination

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2008, 3:54PM

A Senate staffer has confirmed to TPMmuckraker that the hold placed on the nomination of Neil Barofsky to be inspector general for the bailout has now been removed.

Politico had reported the removal of the hold earlier today, as we noted.

So now the focus is squarely on the identity of the GOP senator who placed the hold. And it now seems pretty clear, as we suspected from the start, that it was Jim Bunning of Kentucky.

According to the Senate staffer we spoke to, senators are working on the assumption that Bunning was responsible. And the staffer described a highly semantic argument that a Bunning aide made when asked about the issue, which would appear to only add to the evidence that Bunning was responsible.

The staffer said that a Bunning aide, speaking to an aide to another senator, tried to make the argument that technically, no hold had been placed, because there had been no request for unanimous consent on the floor of the Senate. A "UC request" would need to be made before calling for a voice vote on the issue, and it's at that point that the hold would officially go into effect. But in this case, Chris Dodd, the chair of the banking committee, had already been informed by the GOP cloakroom that one GOP senator wanted a hold put on -- which was what prompted Dodd to issue the statement that first revealed the existence of the hold.

The culprit is under no obligation, the Senate staffer said, to ever come clean. So we may never get official confirmation -- and the more important fact is that a vote on Barofsky's nomination is now set to proceed, probably by tomorrow, according to the staffer.

But at this point, the mystery seems all but cleared up.

Bailout

Schumer: Barofsky Hold Removed

Zachary Roth | December 4, 2008, 12:53PM

Politico reports:

The anonymous hold on Neil Barofsky, the Bush administration's TARP special IG, was lifted late Wednesday, according to Chuck Schumer. That clears the way for (sic) quick voice vote on his nomination.

The government watchdog group POGO had also written on their website this morning that the hold had been lifted.

Still no confirmation on whether Kentucky GOPer Jim Bunning was behind it. But we've posted his photograph anyway.

Bailout

More Evidence That Bunning Is GOP Senator Blocking Barofsky Nomination

Zachary Roth | December 3, 2008, 11:39AM

It's looking more and more like -- as we suspected -- Kentucky GOP senator Jim Bunning is the guy who placed the anonymous hold on the nomination of Neil Barofsky to the crucial post of special inspector general for the bailout.

Bunning's spokesman, Mike Reynard, wouldn't return any of our several calls on the subject. But the Associated Press appears to have reached him. It reports:

Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, a member of the Senate Banking Committee who opposed the bailout bill, has said he had "serious concerns" with Barofsky's nomination, though he has praised his experience. Bunning spokesman Mike Reynard would not comment on whether Bunning had placed the hold.

We'll let you draw your own conclusions...

Jim Bunning

Is Kentucky GOPer Blocking Barofsky Appointment?

Zachary Roth | December 1, 2008, 12:09PM

Here's one possible suspect in the mystery of which Republican senator put a hold on the nomination of federal prosecutor Neil Barofsky for the key post of special inspector general for the bailout.

During Barofsky's appearance before the Senate banking committee November 19, Kentucky GOP senator Jim Bunning -- who from the beginning has been a staunch opponent of the bailout as a whole -- made clear that he opposed the nomination. Bunning expressed concern about the Treasury's decision last month to change its plan for how to use the bailout money, and about Barofsky's apparent reluctance, at a previous hearing, to question that decision by Treasury.

From the hearing:

Bunning: The bailout law also allows $50 million for your office, and so you will have a very ample amount of resources.

But I have serious concerns with your nomination. The nominee may be a dedicated public servant. He appears to be a skilled prosecutor and a man of integrity. But I wonder why taxpayers should have to pay $50 million to a watchdog who will have nothing to watch. How willing (sic) the IG performs (sic) his statutory role when the secretary has rewritten the law already, less than two months after it was enacted.

...

In his testimony earlier this week, Mr. Barofsky did not question Secretary Paulson's unlikely interpretation of the bailout law. Now, that's the money that is spent; if he does not question it, he will have little to do but watch the preferred stock positions mature.

...

Ultimately, I believe Mr. Barofsky, with his impressive legal skills, can serve the public far better in the Southern District of New York, where he can continue to prosecute mortgage fraud.

To be clear: Bunning, or any other senator, has a perfect right to oppose Barofsky's nomination for the reasons he suggests above. But anonymously preventing a free vote on the issue, especially at a time of such urgency, hardly offers a model of the kind of openness and transparency that Congress is calling for from the Treasury Department.

We've put in a call to Bunning's office, and will let you know what we hear.