Senator Obama Was Cool With Holding Up GOP Nominee

OK, so the White House  has their panties in a bunch because Senate Republicans have so far been able to block the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. The latest roadblock being today’s failed cloture vote in the Senate. Naturally the White House and Democrats began running around, palms up, shrieking as if this was the worst thing ever. From BuzzFeed:

 The White House blasted the Senate Republican filibuster of Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination for Secretary of Defense Thursday, calling it “unconscionable.”

“The President stands strongly behind Sen. Hagel,” said Josh Earnest, the principal deputy press secretary, aboard Air Force One. A vote to break the filibuster is scheduled for Friday morning, but as of now it is not clear that Senate Democrats have the votes.

Earnest told reporters that with a NATO defense ministerial meeting coming up next week in Brussels, the United States needs Hagel confirmed. “It’s difficult to explain to our allies exactly why that’s happening,” he said, adding that U.S. troops also deserve a new Secretary of Defense.

“These delays are unconscionable and they should end right away,” he said.

Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to get some shots in:

The Republican filibuster of  Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary is “unprecedented” and “tragic,”  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today.

“There are serious consequences to this delay,” Reid said from the Senate floor this morning. “It’s shocking that my Republican colleagues would leave the nation without a fully empowered secretary of defense during all the things we have going on in the world.”

First of all, the idea that current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is not ‘fully empowered’ is ridiculous. He has already stated he will stay on until his successor is confirmed, so Reid is just blowing smoke there and trying to get his fear-monger on because that’s what guys him do when they’re not getting their way.

There’s just one little problem with President Obama or Harry Reid whining about this Hagel thing. That problem? Both of them, along with Vice President Biden all did the same thing to John Bolton when his nomination for U.N. Ambassador came before the Senate back in 2005:

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109^th Congress – 1^st Session

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Upon Reconsideration, Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of John R. Bolton, of Maryland, to be Representative of the United States to the United Nations )
Vote Number:	142	Vote Date:	June 20, 2005, 06:04 PM
Required For Majority:	3/5	Vote Result:	Cloture Motion Rejected
Nomination Number:	PN326
Nomination Description:	John Robert Bolton, of Maryland, to be the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador, and the Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations

Vote Counts:	YEAs	54
	NAYs	38
	Not Voting	8

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Akaka (D-HI), Nay Alexander (R-TN), Yea Allard (R-CO), Yea Allen (R-VA), Yea Baucus (D-MT), Nay Bayh (D-IN), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Nay Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Yea Burns (R-MT), Not Voting Burr (R-NC), Yea Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Carper (D-DE), Nay Chafee (R-RI), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Clinton (D-NY), Nay Coburn (R-OK), Yea Cochran (R-MS), Yea Coleman (R-MN), Not Voting Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Corzine (D-NJ), Nay Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Yea Dayton (D-MN), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Yea DeWine (R-OH), Yea Dodd (D-CT), Nay

Dole (R-NC), Yea Domenici (R-NM), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay Ensign (R-NV), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Yea Feingold (D-WI), Not Voting Feinstein (D-CA), Nay Frist (R-TN), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Yea Jeffords (I-VT), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting Kennedy (D-MA), Nay Kerry (D-MA), Not Voting Kohl (D-WI), Not Voting Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Leahy (D-VT), Nay Levin (D-MI), Not Voting Lieberman (D-CT), Nay Lincoln (D-AR), Nay Lott (R-MS), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea

McCain (R-AZ), Yea McConnell (R-KY), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Yea Obama (D-IL), Nay Pryor (D-AR), Yea Reed (D-RI), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Nay Santorum (R-PA), Yea Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea Smith (R-OR), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Yea Sununu (R-NH), Yea Talent (R-MO), Yea Thomas (R-WY), Yea Thune (R-SD), Not Voting Vitter (R-LA), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Nay Warner (R-VA), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Nay

 

Seems President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are fine with holding up nominations of people they don’t like, huh? Oh well, I guess things are only ‘unconscionable’ or ‘shocking’ and will result in ‘serious consequences’ when Republicans do them…