LET GATES AND HOLDER HAVE THEIR TEAMS
Pending: Congress took off for its August recess with 10 nominees for the Department of Defense and Department of Justice left in the lurch, awaiting confirmation. These include New York Rep. John McHugh, nominated for Secretary of the Army, Joseph Westphal, who is up for under secretary of the Army, and Juan Garcia, who would be assistant secretary of the Navy.
What’s the problem? Kansas Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts have placed a legislative hold on the nominees, not due to any objections to the candidates, but to protest the Obama administration’s decision to try Guantánamo Bay detainees at the military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, in their home state. Brownback and Roberts are demanding personal briefings by Gates and Holder on the detention issue, further analyses on the costs of relocating the prisoners, and more information on the detainees being moved.
Leaving aside the NIMBYism and short-sightedness of Brownback and Roberts’s objections, holding apparently qualified defense and judicial appointees hostage during a time of war is not really the best way to make your point. If these senators believe that closing Guantánamo would put the country at greater risk, how do they justify making it harder for these critical departments to do their jobs? Even the conservative Washington Times, which supports the two Republican senators’ position on the detainee issue, has chastised them for their tactics.
These are far from the only appointees being held up for dubious reasons. “Regulatory czar” Cass Sunstein’s appointment has been put on hold by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who believes the Harvard law professor might institute legal rights for livestock.
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