Freed of filibuster threat, Senate OKs two Obama nominees

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Patricia Millett for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the first nominees approved since the filibuster rules were changed.

Millett and Watt were among several high-profile nominees whose confirmation had been delayed for months because of Republican threats to filibuster, meaning their supporters needed 60 votes rather than a mere majority. Last month, frustrated Democrats, with the president’s blessing, changed the Senate’s rules to prevent the tactic from being used to block most judicial and executive nominees, except the Supreme Court. Now, a simple majority will suffice.

Millett’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court gives the influential court a majority of Democratic-appointed judges for the first time in nearly three decades. Two more of President Obama’s nominees for the court, Robert L. Wilkins and Cornelia “Nina” Pillard, are likely to be confirmed this month. So are Janet L. Yellen, nominated to be the nation’s first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, and Jeh Johnson, who was nominated to take over as secretary of the Homeland Security Department.

“Now that the Senate has changed its precedents to overcome the escalating obstruction of some, I hope reasonable Republicans will join us in restoring the Senate’s ability to fulfill its constitutional duties,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the chamber’s senior Democrat.

Both nominees were confirmed with two Republican votes, despite the raw feelings of most in the GOP over what they called a Democratic power grab.

In a lengthy floor speech before the votes, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former secretary of Education under President George H.W. Bush, called the rule change “the most stunning development in the history of the United States Senate.”

“The goal was to help the administration and the Democratic majority advance its radical agenda unchecked through the courts and the executive agencies,” he said. “If there is no integrity to the rules of the Senate, there is no integrity to the Senate.”

Both parties have relied on the filibuster to block nominees when their party did not hold the White House. Democrats say they were forced to change the rules after Republicans engaged in unprecedented obstruction of Obama’s appointees.

Republicans say they opposed Millet and the other D.C. Circuit Court contenders because they fear the court’s balance will tilt toward liberals and because the caseload does not merit more judges. The GOP fought Watt, whose agency oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying that the job was better suited for a technocrat rather than a political appointee.

Freed from the threat of filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is moving forward on other nominees whose confirmations have long been sought by the administration, including a new secretary of the Air Force, a key undersecretary of the State Department and lower court judges. The Senate was poised to spend much of its remaining two weeks of scheduled business this year clearing the backlog.

Despite Republican threats to retaliate for changing the filibuster rule, their only immediate option appears to be dragging out the confirmation process. Using other Senate rules that remain in effect, Republicans can demand that the Senate allow additional debate time — in some cases up to 30 hours — for each nominee before final confirmation. Previously, both parties often yielded that time so the Senate could proceed to other business.

“Why should I agree to expedite his nomination?” asked Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been seeking to block Johnson from confirmation until the administration satisfied McCain’s questions on border security and illegal immigration. “It’s not retaliation. It’s exercising what should be my right.”

That prompted Reid to threaten to keep the Senate in session longer each day, and perhaps through the weekends if necessary. Such threats carry considerable weight in a body that is accustomed to workweeks that often end Thursday afternoon. Reid’s plan for weekend sessions was “fine with me,” McCain said.

Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), who voted to confirm Watt, said Republicans reserved the right to use any procedural mechanisms to delay confirmation votes, but should be “prudent as to when we use them.”

michael.memoli@latimes.com