Confirmation

The Los Angeles Times has the last of its series on things Republicans are saying about Attorney General-designate Eric Holder, whose confirmation hearing kicks off this morning.
GOP staffers investigating Holder’s background say that although he has downplayed his connections to [Illinois' Democratic Gov. Rod] Blagojevich, new information suggests Holder did legal work for Blagojevich on [...]

Reports are trickling out that President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, may not have paid Social Security or Medicare taxes for “years” and he may have employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper, according to Mark Halperin, via the Wall Street Journal. MSNBC just reported the same news.
Things are looking better for [...]

Since the last bit of my Hillary Rodham Clinton-confirmation-preview piece focused on the secretary of state-designee’s hard-line views on private military companies, I reached out to Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association — known around town as the genial mercenary lobbyist — for his reaction. Alas, Brooks was traveling to the Middle [...]

The antagonism to President-elect Barack Obama’s nomination of Eric Holder to attorney general seems to be crumbling, despite Sen. Arlen Specter’s (R-Penn.) best efforts. Today, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, broke ranks with Senate Republicans and announced he will support Holder. Two former members of the President George W. [...]

Republicans have made it clear that Attorney General-designate Eric Holder is the most problematic of President-elect Barack Obama cabinet nominees. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, gave a scathing floor statement on Holder Tuesday, laying out many of the GOP’s lines of attack: the 1996 “campaign finance violations” of [...]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who’s about to take the reins as chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, doesn’t appear to be too happy with Leon Panetta’s prospective appointment to head the CIA. Here’s what her office just sent me:
“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the [...]

The Washington Post reports that the Senate confirmation hearings for at least one member of President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet are expected to begin shortly after the new year.