Senate leaders agree to separate vote on von Spakovsky

Senate Democratic and GOP leaders have developed a plan that would allow them to move the controversial nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to the floor for a separate vote Thursday, but some Democrats are balking.

{mosads}The plan hatched Wednesday would allow von Spakovsky’s nomination to move to the floor separately with two hours of debate beforehand. If his nomination passes, as Democratic aides predict it would, the Senate would move to votes on the other three uncontested FEC nominees.

Von Spakovsky’s opponents agreed to the deal because it would allow senators to vote against his appointment while voting in favor of the other nominees.

If von Spakovsky’s nomination should fail, the Senate would not consider the other nominees.

“It’s all or nothing,” Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said Wednesday afternoon.

In order to proceed in this way, the Senate must operate under unanimous consent. But Democratic sources say some senators are objecting to the plan and instead want to require a 60-vote threshold for von Spakovsky’s approval.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and other prominent Democrats oppose von Spakovsky’s nomination and want to hold a separate up or down vote on his nomination instead of voting on all four FEC appointees together as the agency’s nominees are usually considered.

Von Spakovsky’s nomination became controversial earlier this year during the Democratic investigation into the 2006 firings of U.S. attorneys. Democrats are questioning whether the Justice Department has been improperly politicized during President Bush’s tenure.

Former top officials of the civil rights division, where von Spakovsky held the position of counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, have sent letters to senators arguing against his confirmation on grounds that he politicized the voting rights section.

Last week, the Senate Rules Committee sent all four FEC nominations to the floor without recommendations, an unprecedented maneuver aimed at accommodating Feinstein’s objections to von Spakovsky.

Von Spakovsky was installed on the FEC as a recess appointment in early January 2006, but the Senate has yet to confirm him.

A Democratic aide and a lobbyist following the issue point to Democratic Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Russ Feingold (Wis.) as two of the objectors. Calls to their offices were not immediately returned.