White House floats plan to break long FEC impasse

The White House floated a counterproposal to Senate Democrats on a long-running impasse that has imperiled the Federal Election Commission (FEC), but it appears unlikely to resolve the stalemate.

In a conversation Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten said the Bush administration would accept the senator’s recommendations to fill three Democratic seats.

{mosads}The White House nominated two new Republicans to sit on the six-member commission that is divided evenly between the two parties.

 But the White House refused to withdraw the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky, who Democrats will not confirm because they say he helped suppress voting rights as an official at the Justice Department.

The White House continues to insist on von Spakovsky. The administration says he is well-qualified for the position and argues the recent 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board has vindicated “his good faith legal position on voter identification laws,” according to a background document on the counterproposal. Democrats said the ruling to uphold Indiana voter ID laws would turn away minority, poor and elder voters who may not have proper identification.

“Mr. Bolten also proposed a fair and clear path forward that completely incorporates Senator Reid’s proposals for the three Democratic seats on the Commission and ensures our shared goal of a fully functioning six member FEC in the immediate future,” said Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman. “We strongly encourage the Senate to act swiftly on these nominations so that we can have a fully functioning six member FEC by Memorial Day.”

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said the proposal falls short of the majority leader’s position.

Manley said the administration’s continued support of von Spakovsky means “the White House has abandoned experience and independence for partisan loyalty.  That is the White House’s choice.  It is a regrettable one. Nonetheless, we will work towards the confirmation of the remaining nominees and expect to defeat Mr. von Spakovsky.   We will work to ensure that the commission is constituted so that it will be able to function in this election year.”

In a letter to Bolten last week, Reid said he would commit to confirming the Democratic and Republican nominees if von Spakovsky’s nomination is removed. Reid told reporters last week that by insisting on the nomination, the White House is perpetuating the “status quo” of an ineffective FEC.

Democrats have offered to move the nominations individually, knowing that von Spakovsky does not have enough votes to win confirmation. But Republicans have insisted on holding one vote on all the nominations, saying that practice is typical for FEC nominees.

Since there are not enough commissioners confirmed, the FEC does not have a quorum to vote. That means the panel cannot rule on a number of issues, including public financing-inquiries from presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and rules requiring “bundlers” who help raise large sums of money for candidates to be disclosed.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hailed the White House plan on Tuesday.

“This compromise is a blueprint for a fully functioning, bipartisan FEC—a goal we all share—and an end to the bottleneck created by the Democrats’ opposition to one well-qualified nominee,” McConnell said.