Every Presidential Administration that I have covered - from Reagan to Obama - has had to deal with delays in nominees, whether for the Executive or Judicial Branch, and now we've arrived again at one of those points for this administration.
The complaints from the party in power are always much the same, as each side unveils an array of statistics favoring their argument, charging that the minority in the Senate is frustrating the will of the people, that too many good men and women are being delayed, and more.
Democrats in recent weeks have been making more and more noise about delayed nominees that have not been confirmed by the Senate. This week, they will try to push through a series of them - none are household names, and their jobs are not either.
It's nothing new.
"DeMint puts nominees on hold over Obama's Honduras policy," was one headline from 2009.
"Waiting for Clinton, Democrats Hold Up Court Confirmations," was another from 1992.
"Frist Warns on Filibusters Over Bush Nominees," read one story in 2004.
"Lott Backs Drive to Block All Clinton Nominations," was another from 1999.
Maybe you get the picture.
Democrats could probably get every single Obama nominations through the Senate, but it would take a huge amount of time to break through every single "hold" - which is essentially a filibuster.
First, you have to force a vote to cut off debate on the Motion to Proceed to a nomination. If you get 60 votes for that, then there can be up to 30 hours of post-cloture debate. Then that process is repeated on the nomination itself.
On Monday, the Senate broke a filibuster on the Motion to Proceed to the nomination of Lael Brainard to be an Under Secretary of Treasury. A final vote on her nomination will occur on Tuesday afternoon.
A lot of Obama nominees are being held up in the Senate, that is very true.
But I find it hard to shed many tears over those delays, because the Democrats would be doing the same thing if John McCain had won the last election.
It would be nice to see the Senate operate differently, but like the filibuster, it seems unlikely that Senators will give up their rights anytime soon to block a presidential nominee, whether for the Department of Agriculture or the federal bench.
Every Presidential Administration that I have covered - from Reagan to Obama - has had to deal with delays in nominees, whether for the Executive or Judicial Branch, and now we've arrived again at one of those points for this administration. The complaints from the party in power are always ...
