Senate Battle Over FEC Nominee May Hamper Agency's Ability to Act

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said it has been a long-standing practice of the Senate to vote on FEC nominees from each party as a package.

"Historically, they've been done as a group to prevent one party's nominees from going through and not the other's," Stewart said. "That's the way we've always done them, and Senator McConnell sees no reason that should change."

Obama and three other senators who have formally objected to a Senate vote on von Spakovsky said they want each FEC nominee to be voted on separately. They said it should take 60 votes for him to be confirmed.

As for the fate of the FEC if the stalemate persists, those on both sides agreed that members of the commission's staff would be able to continue to conduct routine work, but little else would get done, at least until Bush made four new recess appointments. Such a move would mean he was conceding defeat on the von Spakovsky nomination.

"It will truly be the Wild West for a while," Smith said.

Neither Obama nor McConnell seemed to view that outcome as a reason to back down.

Asked about that prospect, Obama spokeswoman Amy Brundage said: "Senator Obama hopes President Bush listens to his serious concerns about von Spakovsky's record of undermining voting rights and finally sends Congress a nominee who will promote integrity in our election system."

Stewart, McConnell's spokesman, said that adjourning without a vote "would not be our preference, but if the people who are blocking this vote insist on that, and the majority leader doesn't schedule a vote, the end result would be we'd be down to two commissioners. That would be a bad result."