There is more talk in Washington, D.C. this week about the possibility of Republicans trying to block President Obama's choice for Defense Secretary, and how that tactic would be a historic first to require 60 votes in the Senate on a Presidential Cabinet choice.
Except that it happened just a few years ago.
Back in 2006, it was the opposite situation, as Democrats were registering their opposition to a Cabinet choice of President George W. Bush.
Roll Call, a prominent newspaper on Capitol Hill, reported on February 1 that a filibuster of ex-Senator Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense would be the "first time in U.S. history" against a Cabinet nominee.
But that isn't true.
"The Senate has never formally filibustered a cabinet nominee," Fox News Radio reported last week.
That isn't true either.
If you just do a little research on the ole internet, you don't have to look long to find an example of where a Cabinet nominee had been blocked, and the Senate was forced to use a cloture vote to bring about final confirmation.
That was back on May 26 2006, when the Senate had to get 60 votes for a cloture motion to force a final vote on President George W. Bush's choice for Interior Secretary, Dirk Kempthorne.
And like Hagel, Kempthore was a former Senator.
"I know this nominee is a person deserving of our respect," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) just before the 2006 vote, "But I must stand on my principles to oppose this nomination."
While other Democrats like Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) had placed a hold on Kempthorne's nomination, it was Nelson in 2006 who ultimately refused to allow action on the Kempthorne nomination, so the Senate was forced to vote on a cloture motion, which was approved on a vote of 85-8, well above the 60 votes needed to bring about final action.
Joining Nelson to vote for a filibuster of a Bush Cabinet nominee were, Sen. Joe Biden - now the Vice President, John Kerry - now Secretary of State, and both Senators from New York, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer.
It should be noted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) did not vote in favor of a filibuster of Kempthorne, as the Illinois Senator voted to shut off debate on the Kempthorne nomination.
The filibuster against Kempthorne wasn't the most high profile effort in 2006 by Democrats against a nominee of President Bush, as Democrats also forced Republicans to get 60 votes on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Mr. Obama did support that filibuster.
If Hagel is subjected to a cloture vote on the Senate floor for the job of Defense Secretary, one thing is clear - delaying a final vote on a Cabinet nominee in the Senate is certainly rare.
I went back to 1989, when ex-Sen. John Tower was defeated in his bid to become Defense Secretary for the first President Bush - and Kempthorne was the only Cabinet nominee to be subjected to a motion to invoke cloture over the last 24 years.
What goes around comes around in life, and in politics on Capitol Hill. If you delay someone's nomination, the other party might return the favor at a later date.
In this case, it wouldn't be the first time one party has forced the other to get 60 votes on a Cabinet nominee.
But it sure doesn't happen very often.
Source: http://www.wsbradio.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2013/feb/10/filibusters-and-cabinet-nominations/
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