Controversial FEC nominee withdraws

Controversial nominee Hans von Spakovsky withdrew his nomination from the Federal Election Commission on Friday, potentially ending a standoff that had crippled the FEC.

In a letter to Bush, von Spakovsky cited the two-and-a-half-year length of his pending nomination and said the process “has been extremely hard on my family.”

{mosads}Quite frankly, we do not have the financial resources to continue to wait until this matter is resolved,” von Spakovsky wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) termed the news "a victory for our electoral process" and said he anticipated the Senate would "swiftly put a functioning FEC in place." 

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said President Bush “reluctantly” accepted the withdrawal and that the paperwork will go to Congress next week.

The FEC is supposed to have six commissioners, but only has two confirmed because of a standoff in the Senate over von Spakovsky. Republicans had refused to move Democratic FEC nominees unless Democrats allowed von Spakowsky’s nomination to proceed.

Because of the impasse, there are not enough FEC commissioners to hold a quorum and it has not been able to rule on a number of issues, including public financing inquiries from presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Democrats accused von Spakovsky of not supporting voting rights for minorities when he was an official with the Department of Justice. Republicans have repeatedly defended him and said the charges are unfair.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was “deeply disappointed,” complaining that Democrats obstructed “a highly qualified nominee” who was treated “deplorably.”

“Senate Democrats have politicized one more function of the legislative branch that had traditionally been a partisan-free zone,” McConnell said in a statement. “Liberal interest groups did their best to manufacture controversy and once again, Senate Democrats played along.”

Reid said  van Spakovsky was "not qualified to hold any position of trust in our government."

Campaign Legal Center spokesman David Vance said his group was “relieved.”

“We’ve said all along we don’t believe he deserves to be confirmed to a position enforcing our nation’s election laws after his record at the Department of Justice,” Vance said.