Conservative Democratic Senator Ben Nelson is all but certain to vote against Johnsen, Nelson spokesperson Clay Westrope tells me. Westrope confirms that while Nelson will take into account any further information that emerges, the Senator cannot now envision a scenario under which he’d support her — potentially making it an uphill climb to get her confirmed.
Johnsen is an important nomination: The OLC is the office where the torture memos were produced, and Obama’s pick of Johnsen cheered many liberals because it signaled a desire for his lawyers to aggressively articulate what the law allows. Johnsen has written that OLC lawyers should be “prepared to resign” if the White House ignores their opinions.
Johnsen has been under relentless attack by Republicans who claim her harsh legal criticism of Bush’s war on terror proves she’s weak on national security and cite her previous pro-choice statements as proof she’s an ideological hard-liner. But now a Democrat is echoing the latter criticism. Westrope emails:
“Senator Nelson is very concerned about the nomination of Dawn Johnson, based on her previous position as Counsel for NARAL. He believes that the Office of Legal Counsel is a position in which personal views can have an impact and is concerned about her outspoken pro-choice views on abortion.”
GOP Senators may filibuster the Johnsen nomination, meaning it will require 60 Senate votes to get through. So the loss of a Dem like Nelson could be a big deal.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Key Dem Senator Likely To Vote Against Top Obama Legal Nominee
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