Bush to nominate Petersen for slot on dormant FEC

The White House attempted to jump-start negotiations with Senate Democrats over Federal Election Commission (FEC) nominees Thursday by naming a familiar face on Capitol Hill for a Republican seat at the agency.

President Bush announced that he intends to nominate Matthew Petersen, who served as minority chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, for an open slot on the election regulatory agency.

{mosads}Bush could not make the nomination official because Petersen’s FBI background check, a normal step in the process, was not yet completed. The administration was under pressure to name someone quickly because negotiations with Democrats on other nominees to the FEC and an array of executive-branch positions had broken down.

The nomination announcement comes amid a showdown with Democrats over reconstituting an FEC that has been dormant during a critical election year. A nearly yearlong dispute over controversial GOP pick Hans von Spakovsky had prevented any FEC nominations from clearing the Senate, thereby denying the agency a working quorum.

Von Spakovsky withdrew his nomination last Friday and Democrats spent the last two days trying to approve a slate of new nominees and seat them over the Memorial Day recess. If the Senate doesn’t confirm the nominees before taking its weeklong break, there is a chance Bush could bypass the chamber and make recess appointments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could avoid that scenario by keeping the Senate in pro forma sessions.

Republicans were reluctant to agree to a full Senate vote on three nominees before the White House named its choice for a final GOP opening.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sought swift action by Senate Democrats to hold a vote and turn the page on the controversy.

“The White House acted quickly in nominating Matthew Petersen to fill the sixth and final slot on the Federal Election Commission,” McConnell said in a statement. “This prompt action provides a path toward seating a fully functioning, bipartisan commission.”

Petersen’s status as a longtime colleague on Capitol Hill would make it difficult for Democrats to oppose him and may seal his nomination.

Senate Democrats said reacting to the news would be premature because the nomination was not official.

Democrats had sought to move forward on three pending FEC nominations by passing them by voice vote Thursday in a committee. Reid planned to hold a floor vote on the new nominees, as well as one holdover, before the Memorial Day recess.

The four would join Democratic pick Ellen Weintraub, a sitting commissioner, to provide a quorum at the six-member agency.

But at least one Republican senator objected to holding a Senate floor vote out of concern that, under that scenario, Democrats would have a 3-2 majority at the FEC until the White House named another GOP pick.

Democrats countered that the White House created the problem by way of its decision in early May to withdraw the nomination of David Mason, a sitting commissioner Bush twice nominated to the FEC in the past two years. If they wanted to avoid a Democratic majority, they said, they could simply reinstate Mason.

Mason had questioned presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on his request to opt out of public financing.

“There were no Republican problems with David Mason until his recent questions about McCain’s reversal on public financing,” said Howard Gantman, a top aide to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who chairs the Rules Committee.

Bush surprised Democrats by yanking Mason in the middle of a standoff over von Spakovsky.

Mason had sent the McCain campaign a letter in February asking it to answer questions about his request to opt out of public financing.

The White House won’t explain the reasons why it turned its back on Mason. “We don’t ever comment on why we withdraw people,” said White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore.