Game’s Not Over for Hormel

Even though this hasn’t been a notably busy or productive year for the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Trent Lott has decided that there simply is no time available to vote on the nomination of James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg. Never mind that Hormel’s confirmation has been pending since last fall, that hearings on his fitness have long since been completed or that Lott early on declared his unshakable belief that Hormel should not represent his country abroad because he is a homosexual. The excuse du jour is that the Senate calendar is too crowded to permit a confirmation vote. So Lott and a handful of others of like mind will have denied the Senate its constitutional responsibility to advise and consent to this nomination.

That’s not the end of the story, however. The Constitution also empowers the president to fill vacancies when Congress is in recess. Congress is rushing toward recess now, its members eager to campaign for the November elections. Once it has adjourned, President Clinton can name Hormel to the Luxembourg post. He is qualified, he is acceptable to the host government and his sexual orientation is utterly irrelevant.

That’s the way most senators feel, as Lott well knows. Had the Senate leader allowed a floor vote, Hormel would easily have been confirmed. Instead Lott used his powers to prevent a vote, meanwhile taking to the airwaves to give his opinion that homosexuality is a treatable condition, as he put it, like alcoholism or kleptomania. In other words, anyone who makes the effort can surmount it. That notion may play well in some circles. It hardly elevates the reputation of the Senate.

In a few weeks the Senate will recess. There’s no reason why Hormel shouldn’t be presenting his credentials in Luxembourg not long after.