Politics of the Partisan Kill

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch’s manipulation of Bill Lann Lee’s confirmation process was a callous performance, nearly a political beheading for no apparent reason beyond the fact that Lee is President Clinton’s choice as the nation’s top civil rights official.

The Utah Republican himself acknowledged Tuesday that Lee, nominated to head the Justice Department’s civil rights division, is “an able civil rights lawyer with a profoundly admirable passion to improve the lives of many Americans.”

The GOP game seems to be to torpedo even the most outstanding appointments out of petulance that the Democrat in the White House has the nominating power. The Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Hatch, has turned to stalling or harassment in the cases of many worthy nominees to the federal bench, for instance; this continues at a time when one in nine judgeships are vacant.

Lee, with 23 years of experience in civil rights law, is well respected and qualified to do the job, but Hatch painted the Los Angeles attorney as a poster boy for affirmative action. Ridiculous.

The senator says that much of Lee’s work has been devoted to “constitutionally suspect, race-conscious public policies that ultimately distort and divide citizens by race.”

Distorted view of the law? Lee has worked long and vigorously within the civil rights statutes to uphold the law. He opposed California’s Proposition 209 but has said he would support the law of the land, including this week’s controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision to let stand Proposition 209, California’s ban on race and gender preferences in public hiring and university admissions.

Hatch’s opposition could doom Lee’s appointment unless two Republicans join the committee’s eight Democrats in today’s scheduled vote on Lee, who would be the first Asian American to manage the 250-lawyer division. Even if the Judiciary Committee does not recommend Lee, the full Senate should get the opportunity to vote on the nomination. Clinton administration officials, who belatedly mounted a full-court press for their nominee, believe that Lee could be confirmed by a floor vote.

Barring that, Clinton could courageously circumvent the Senate and put Lee in the job by making a “recess appointment” after Congress shuts down Friday for its annual Christmas break. Lee warrants Senate confirmation. He should not be made a political scapegoat.