More Press Given To Insane Senate Holds

I wrote about this about a week ago, but here are the actual numbers. From Ann Lowery at Foreign Policy:

But President Barack Obama’s first year has brought an unusual number of holds, and on unusually prominent positions. One year into the Bush administration, there were 70 appointees awaiting confirmation. One year into the Obama administration, there are 177. And dozens of those holds are directly affecting the agencies responsible for the United States’ security and foreign policy, amid two wars and an amped-up terrorism threat. The United States has no ambassador to Ethiopia, no head of the Office of Legal Counsel, no director at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, no agricultural trade representative.

So there you have it. 177 people who should be doing important government work are held up by partisan demands. And it is partisan – you can tell from the difference between President Obama’s unconfirmed nominees and previous administrations. It also has unintended side effects – besides the inefficiency of the federal government. Ezra Klein:

A little-noticed side effect of holds is that they reduce government accountability. There are 20 Treasury nominees awaiting confirmation. And that’s amidst the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Consider the implications of that, and not just in the performance of the Treasury Department. Many people — both Democrats and Republicans — want Obama to fire Geithner, or some of the people who work for him. But the chance of that happening is approximately zero so long as Obama can’t be confident in his ability to smoothly fill that position. If you can’t hire new people, then you can’t get rid of old people.

The White House has a full list of their nominees – confirmed and unconfirmed – HERE.