By AMY HARDER
Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., urged a room full of Republican attorneys today to fight President Obama's judicial nominees -- but to stop short of the filibuster.
Speaking at a Republican National Lawyers Association conference at the National Press Club, Santorum insisted to a skeptical audience that filibustering judicial nominees would be counterproductive. Two questioners wondered why Republicans should show restraint after Democrats blocked several of President Bush's nominees. "We will lose every single filibuster attempt, even if it's the worst judge in the world. We don't have the votes," Santorum rejoined. "You don't pull out a gun if everyone in the room knows it's not loaded."
Santorum also predicted that a filibuster would cause dissent even within GOP ranks. "Half of the caucus will turn on you," Santorum said. "Democrats don't turn on other Democrats. Republicans do."
When NationalJournal.com caught up with Santorum after his speech, he said that the only way his party will be able to block any of Obama's nominees would be to wage massive campaigns against the most "egregious" ones to the point where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., decides not to bring the confirmation to a vote. Going against every single one of them will not work, he said. Would the former senator be involved in such campaigns himself? "Oh, I don't know," Santorum said with a laugh. "I like to light a lot of fires and then step out of the way."
One thing that the audience, Santorum and his fellow speaker, Wendy Long, could agree on was their concern about Obama's philosophy in making judicial nominations. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, expressed her alarm about a comment Obama made on the campaign trail indicating that he preferred judges who have "heart" and "empathy." "This is the first time in history that a president has put forth as his gold standard for judicial nominees the very definition of judicial activism," Long said.
Obama has made just three nominations so far. The first, David Hamilton, nominated to a 7th circuit Court of Appeals seat in mid-March, has already drawn conservative opposition. Hamilton is now awaiting a confirmation vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans on the committee, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., boycotted Hamilton's confirmation hearing on April 1, saying they didn't have enough time to prepare.
By AMY HARDER
A panel discussion hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center on Monday offered the Obama administration warnings and advice for navigating the forthcoming judicial nominations that Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is hoping the president will send to his committee before lawmakers' spring recess early next month.
James Flug, who worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as counsel and later as chief counsel, has experienced the intricacies of judicial nominations from the staff level. Flug advises President Obama to "lay out what his principles of selection are in a way that's clear and simple and honest and that reflects these values and the values he wants to see an an appellate judge. There's a real opportunity for leadership," said Flug.
He cautioned, however, that Senate Republicans' recent threat to filibuster the president's choices before they've even been laid out suggests that the GOP is "not in good faith." Sarah Binder, George Washington professor and Brookings Institute senior fellow, reiterated that caution, saying the unified control Democrats enjoy in both houses of Congress is "not magic or a silver bullet" when it comes to confirming judicial nominees. She predicted that many judges appointed during Jimmy Carter's administration, who did not want to retire while a Republican was in office, could likely choose to now.
Obama should find a way to inform his millions of followers, mostly amassed during the campaign, about judicial nominations, Flug said. Emphasizing that people don't understand the process and issues as well as they should, Flug said that if Obama "can give a very clear and candid and understandable version of what he's looking for in a judge, the public will become a part of the process."
The panelists often referenced the divergent confirmation processes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both nominated by George W. Bush in his second term. While the former was rather clean and simple, the panelists agreed, the latter created unwelcome controversy. A nomination of this level isn't as imminent as those at the lower-level federal courts, but it is expected that at least one -- possibly up to three -- Supreme Court justices will retire during Obama's term. Considering how technology has evolved, especially in terms of e-mail and electronic document retrieval, Flug said confirmation could become a much more time-consuming process that delves deeply into the nominee's past life. Sometimes too much so, he added.
New York Times Washington correspondent David Kirkpatrick, who has covered Supreme Court and executive branch nominations, said that the structure of a judicial confirmation by way of the Senate creates an "atmosphere of a treasure hunt," almost as if lawmakers are searching for a piece of information about nominees before the news media gets to it. "It is a bizarre experience to be a part of it," Kirkpatrick said.
By AMY HARDER
At the United States Institute for Peace conference on media and diplomacy Tuesday, NationalJournal.com was able to speak for a few minutes with James Glassman, who succeeded Karen Hughes as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs in the last year of the Bush administration. Glassman discussed the qualities his own yet-to-be-named successor should possess and how President Obama can use the media to improve relations with the Middle East. Edited excerpts follow:
NJ: What can the Obama administration do to enhance public diplomacy through new media and the Internet?
Glassman: Let me tell you the most important thing it should do. The administration needs to appoint a successor to me... who has an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations. That's an imperative. What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker. That would be a huge mistake.
NJ: Does this relate to the notion put forth in the [USIP] panel discussion that, when it comes to public diplomacy, action speaks louder than words?
Glassman: It's more than that. It's really a conception of the job as -- not as necessarily making everyone love us, but a conception of the job that is to try to achieve foreign policy goals of the United States in a sophisticated way, especially involving other parts of government, and that's what we tried to do. When I came to the job, or before I came to the job, I didn't understand it in that way.I am worried that the administration, for all its talk about the importance of public diplomacy in a broader sense, will see it in a narrow sense as being brand-building, image-building. So the person who gets appointed undersecretary of state of public diplomacy, whoever that is, that person's background and outlook -- that's going to tell you a lot about how truly serious this administration is. So far, we haven't seen much, and I think that's a mistake, too. They should have appointed somebody quickly.
Continue reading Q&A: Outgoing State Dept. Official Offers Diplomatic Advice.
By AMY HARDER
Nearly 250 people packed a room at the Council on Foreign Relations this afternoon to question former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., on the forward-looking report [PDF] that they and more than 30 other foreign policy experts produced for the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project last fall.
There was no shortage of timely topics to jump-start the conversation. President Obama has already undertaken a series of actions, such as appointing special envoys to the Middle East and appearing on Arab TV, that suggest he's reaching out to Muslims. While Albright and Weber said they didn't know if the new administration had absorbed the report word for word, Obama seems to be taking the steps the group has put forth, they said.
The media's coverage of the president's early moves, paired with the conflict in Gaza, present the administration with a double-edged sword in its Middle East policy, Weber said. "The good news is that our issues are on the front burner," he said. "The bad news is our issues are really on the front burner." Weber said the administration is in "delicate stages" on various issues throughout the Middle East. Moderator Barbara Slavin, the Washington Times' assistant managing editor for world and national security, brought up two such sensitive topics: the upcoming elections in Israel and Iran. In both cases, Weber and Albright said, the U.S. needs to tread lightly and ensure that it doesn't interject itself into the politics surrounding the elections.
Weber emphasized that he's "most concerned" with the Iranian presidential elections, which take place in June. Iranians hang on America's "every word," he said, adding that the U.S. must be "very, very careful to hold our tongue until after the elections."
In responding to questions from the audience, the two briefly touched upon nearly all the daunting challenges the administration faces in the Middle East: where America's priorities should be regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan, promotion of democracy versus enforcement, and how the media influences both Americans' perception of the Middle East and the Middle East's perception of the U.S.
In recent interviews with with NationalJournal.com, Albright and Weber discussed these topics and more. At the CFR discussion, Albright said that a crucial first step in improving the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world is more comprehensive and educational coverage in the media. It should focus on more than just violence in the Middle East, for instance, Albright said. Weber echoed her thoughts. U.S. press coverage in this region "doesn't give a textured view of what the Middle East is really like," he said.
CFR's Melinda Brouwer, who helped coordinate the event, said that about 240 people attended, including many who were involved in the report, as well as foreign news organizations reporting back to Indonesia and Pakistan. Albright and Weber were certainly a big draw, giving CFR what Brouwer called its biggest audience and camera-drawing press corps since its recent relocation from Massachusetts Avenue to 18th and F streets.
By MARY GILBERT
President George W. Bush ended his White House tenure by issuing a flurry of regulatory actions, many of which are considered questionable, if not offensive, by the left. While the Obama administration has already taken steps to freeze those rules still in the pipeline, the new president and Democratically-controlled Congress will have to decide how much time and effort they want to expend undoing what Bush has done and how they will go about rescinding rules they want to see wiped from the books.
At a press conference this afternoon at the Center for American Progress, Anne Joseph O'Connell, assistant professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley, presented a new report [PDF] analyzing data on federal rule-making between 1983 and 2008, focusing on transition periods. The study indicates that the spike in regulations coming in the final year, and particularly the last several months, of the Bush administration is typical of most outgoing presidents. That said, O'Connell noted that some steps taken by Bush's team were "unprecedented," in that they were designed specifically to make his regulations harder to overturn.
Also at the event, a report [PDF] from CAP's Reece Rushing and Rick Melberth and Matt Madia of OMB Watch was released, detailing some of Bush's "midnight" regulations and suggesting actions the Obama administration can take to block or undo them.
O'Connell, Reese, OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass, and Sally Katzen of the Obama-Biden Transition Project's Agency Review Working Group were on hand to discuss the results of both reports. They explained that rules proposed by the Bush administration but not yet in place for 60 days can be overruled by the Obama team. In fact, on his first day in office, Obama's White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel issued a memo [PDF] effectively establishing a "regulatory moratorium" so that all rules coming down the pipe could be suspended and reviewed by the new administration.
Regulations finalized before Jan. 20, however, cannot be done away "with the stroke of a pen." Either an entirely new rule must be made -- a process which takes several months -- Congress must intervene to overturn the rule, or it must be suspended through litigation. All of these options will take time and resources to complete and, at a time when Obama and congressional Democrats already face huge threats on the domestic and international fronts, both are in short supply.
By MICHELLE WILLIAMS
You know that times are hard when even the high rollers are pinching their pennies.
With just days left until the inauguration, some upscale D.C. hotels are still looking for people to buy their luxury packages celebrating the historic event.
The Fairmont's $40,000 Eco-Inaugural Package, which includes organic spa treatments, a custom-tailored green ball gown and use of a chauffeur-driven Lexus LS 600h, has yet to inspire the environmentally conscious to partake in the inaugural activities in style, according to Diana Bulger, the hotel's director of public relations.
The Omni Shoreham Hotel, which is offering one of the most expensive inaugural packages at $440,000, has not had much luck either. No one has bitten on this ultra-lavish offering that comes with a private jet for traveling to and from D.C., a $44,000 shopping spree from a designer jewelry collection, a private performance by political satirist Mark Russell and a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. Paul Sharp, the hotel's marketing director, said Thursday that although they haven't been able to sell the package yet, there is a Hollywood couple taking a serious look at it.
Meanwhile, a D.C. businessman is also considering the Omni's more modest $58,000 inaugural offering, Sharp said.
But the Mandarin Oriental, located in the heart of the city, is faring slightly better. Although the hotel hasn't been able to sell its $200,900 Presidential Privilege Package -- which includes a four-night stay in the 3,500-square-foot Presidential Suite, designer outfits for inaugural balls and a chauffeur-driven Maserati Quattroporte -- they did find a taker just for the suite, said hotel spokeswoman Jessica Kumins.
By AMY HARDER
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, along with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), addressed security, transportation and other logistical questions this morning at what is likely to be the last major press conference addressing public safety before the inauguration.
All the officials stressed the historic nature of Barack Obama's inauguration. Fenty said they were "almost pinching ourselves at this enormous, amazing event that is about to happen in our region one week from today."
"Over my 25-year career, this is the biggest event I've been a part of," said Sullivan, speaking on behalf of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (who could not attend due to an event at the White House).
Attendees received handouts on inaugural logistics, such as Jumbotron locations and bus parking registrations. (Note: Per the mayor's office, the road closure handouts available at the conference were inaccurate and will be updated later today.)
The District has issued more than 744 licenses and 1,500 badges to street vendors. More than 2,000 buses had registered for parking spaces by the time the press conference started. Not even a half-hour later, Fenty said that number had jumped to 3,000, which "way exceeds anything the city has seen before" (though it is considerably lower than estimates offered last month at a similar press conference hosted by the Secret Service).
The two governors fielded questions primarily related to transportation. In Virginia, all major bridges leading to D.C. will be closed to private traffic in the early hours of Jan. 20 through the evening. Kaine said visitors coming in from the state should use public transportation or drive in before the bridges close. What drivers should not do, he said, is go around the Beltway and add to the gridlock in Maryland.
While the estimated number of visitors has decreased -- from 4-5 million to 1-2 million -- how to maneuver among such a large crowd is something O'Malley said attendees need to plan out meticulously.
"This is not your typical day in our country's history; this is not a typical crowd," O'Malley said. "This is not like throwing your family in the van and heading down to a visit at the Air and Space Museum. You need to have a plan. You need make yourself and the people traveling with you aware of the logistical challenges so you can navigate them safely."
By AMY HARDER
The latest round of violence in the Middle East has provided a timely backdrop for today's United States Institute of Peace conference examining the foreign policy challenges facing President-elect Barack Obama. At least brief mentions of the conflict found their way into several speeches at the Washington Convention Center, including those by former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in the first half of the daylong program.
It also kept away one of the program's keynote speakers: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, slated to speak early in the day, was held up in New York with the U.N. Security Council. Henrietta Fore, director of foreign assistance at the State Department and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, spoke on Rice's behalf. The outgoing secretary is "working around the clock to end the violence in Gaza," Fore said. She also said the Middle East conflict offers a "fascinating and timely discussion as we transition to the new administration."
The rest of the morning's program centered on the danger that nuclear weapons present to the U.S. Perry, who served as Defense secretary under President Clinton, delivered a somber speech about the threat of nuclear proliferation, especially from countries like Iran and North Korea. "I have a strong belief that the gravest danger our nation faces today is a terror group detonating a nuclear bomb in one of our cities," Perry said.
He expressed optimism about the incoming president, saying there are "actions Obama can take to move us in a direction in a world with no nuclear weapons," including inviting Russia to join the U.S. in its stand against nuclear proliferation. These actions, he added, can be achieved within the new administration's first year. But while Perry ended on an encouraging note, saying the country is on a "positive track," he wasn't shy in predicting trouble ahead. "President Obama will almost certainly face a serious crisis with Iran," he said. "Indeed, I believe that the crisis point will be reached in his first year of office."
Continue reading Gaza, Nuclear Weapons Take Early Focus At USIP Conference.
By AMY HARDER
Nearly 1,400 people are slated to attend the United States Institute for Peace's "Passing the Baton 2009" conference on Thursday, which will feature outgoing officials such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley discussing "critical foreign policy challenges and opportunities facing the new administration as it transitions into power."
This is nearly twice as many attendees as USIP's first conference of this kind, which took place in 2001, and hundreds more than expected, said spokeswoman Lauren Sucher. She said that the Institute, which was established by Congress in the early 1980s, took pains to ensure that the conference was free so that anyone could attend.
Other noteworthy speakers include: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. David Petraeus, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of Defense William Perry and former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
James Jones, Barack Obama's nominee for national security adviser, is not on the speaker schedule, but is on the list of speakers' biographies. Sucher could not yet confirm whether Jones will attend.
By AMY HARDER
Michael Chertoff has helmed one of government's most controversial, criticized and crucial departments for nearly four years. Speaking to a small audience at Georgetown University's Riggs Library this morning, the outgoing secretary of Homeland Security offered a word of advice for his successor, Janet Napolitano, and reflected back on his time in the department.
"Nobody would have predicted that, following September 11, that there would have been no successful attack on American soil the following seven years," Chertoff said in his opening remarks. "I don't think that's an accident." His language echoed a similar argument put forth by President Bush on Wednesday, when he said "it's not a matter of luck" the country had avoided another attack.
Chertoff commended the transition efforts of both the incoming and outgoing teams, calling this the most "dedicated and effective transition" in the country's history. But he emphasized that a "lot of work" is ahead for the department, and for President-elect Obama's incoming administration overall.
"The threat of terrorism and extremist ideologies have not abated, vividly underscored last month in Mumbai," Chertoff said early in his speech. "This reminds us that this threat has not evaporated and we cannot turn the page on this."
While stressing the importance of looking ahead, Chertoff also said that the "past is prologue, and to understand what we must do we must understand where we've come from." To that end, he credited Bush and the policies he put in place, like passing the PATRIOT Act and establishing DHS, for helping prevent further attacks.
"If I learned anything these past eight years," Chertoff said, "it's that swift, strong, unequivocal action is the absolute first requirement" when responding to any type of incident.
While DHS holds an event like this every year, Chertoff said he wanted to take a different approach this time, recounting details from his years in the Bush administration and thanking his fellow employees of DHS. He took time to reflect on some of his experiences, including spending a night on an iceberg with the Coast Guard and riding horses in Arizona with Border Patrol agents. "I would also like to tell my successor," Chertoff said, "that a special treat is in store for her."
At various times throughout his nearly hour-long speech, the outgoing secretary implicitly defended his department, more or less acknowledging the widespread criticism it has received since its founding in March 2003. Disagreeing with critics who have claimed the PATRIOT Act was a "midnight deal," swiftly and discreetly passed in Congress, Chertoff called the legislation "well-thought out and a very, very thoroughly discussed package of measures."
Continue reading Chertoff Offers Advice To Incoming DHS Secretary.
