Battles continued over three ambassadorial nominees already serving overseas as recess appointees. They will be required to leave their posts at the end of the year if they aren’t confirmed.
One,
Mari Carmen Aponte, appointed in August 2010, is heavily backed by Latinos — especially Puerto Ricans — and has strong support from both major Salvadoran parties. (She even persuaded El Salvador to send troops to Afghanistan.) Former CIA officer and Bay of Pigs veteran
Felix Rodriguez
has been working hard on her behalf.
But she was approved in committee on a party-line vote and faces strong opposition from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) — in part for an op-ed she wrote opposing discrimination against gays. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) moved late Thursday for a vote Monday afternoon to break the hold.
The second nominee,
Norm Eisen
, who’s been ambassador to the Czech Republic since last December, had strong conservative support in committee. The Czechs are unhappy at the notion of not having an ambassador. Many conservative foreign policy heavy hitters — including Bush administration aide
Jamie Fly
, National Review editor
John O’Sullivan
, and
Randy Scheunemann
, a former top aide to GOP Sens. John McCain and Trent Lott — are backing him, but this one, too, is a tossup for the moment. Reid also moved for a vote to break the hold on Eisen on Monday afternoon.
Career Foreign Service officer
Matthew Bryza
’s nomination to stay on as ambassador to Azerbaijan is strongly opposed by the American Armenian community, which argues that he is biased toward the Azeris on the issue of a disputed territory. Senior Democrats, including Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Robert Menendez (N.J.), opposed his nomination last time around — Obama gave him a recess appointment a year ago — and are opposing him this time. (Smart money is trending heavy against confirmation.)
Another key ambassadorial nominee, Stanford professor
Mike McFaul
, who’s now National Security Council senior director for Russia, is being held up by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). Kirk is concerned about giving the Russians classified information on missile defense. Both sides may be able to work through the concerns. After all, it might be worth having someone in Moscow these days.
Teddy’s recess play
Speaking of recess appointments, this week — Dec. 7, in fact — marks the 108th anniversary of the most audacious recess-appointment maneuvers ever.
“At high noon” on Dec. 7, 1903, writes Senate associate historian Betty K. Koed, the Senate president pro tem brought down the gavel to end one session of the Senate and then said, “The Senate will now come to order.”
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