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| Susan Rice nomination storm puts Obama in a quandary | Susan Rice nomination storm puts Obama in a quandary |
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| Ten days ago Susan Rice was considered such a sure thing to be Hillary Clinton's replacement as secretary of state that the Washington Post was reporting "senior administration officials" as saying the nomination "will almost certainly go to" the UN ambassador. A week or so later, the knives are out for Rice – and not just from the angry old men of the Republican party. | Ten days ago Susan Rice was considered such a sure thing to be Hillary Clinton's replacement as secretary of state that the Washington Post was reporting "senior administration officials" as saying the nomination "will almost certainly go to" the UN ambassador. A week or so later, the knives are out for Rice – and not just from the angry old men of the Republican party. |
| GOP senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham spent last week grandstanding about blocking Rice's nomination, for what they see as damaging and misleading remarks she made on the Sunday TV shows a few days after the attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi. Things reached a peak last Wednesday when McCain blustered at a press conference: "I will do everything in my power to block her from being the United States secretary of state." | GOP senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham spent last week grandstanding about blocking Rice's nomination, for what they see as damaging and misleading remarks she made on the Sunday TV shows a few days after the attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi. Things reached a peak last Wednesday when McCain blustered at a press conference: "I will do everything in my power to block her from being the United States secretary of state." |
| McCain's comments drew a rebuke from President Obama himself, who called the accusations levelled by McCain and his circle "outrageous". Since then, McCain has tempered his language and walked back his earlier rhetoric (although a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives signed a letter on Monday saying Rice was "unfit" to be secretary of state). By last Sunday's talkshows, McCain was reduced to agreeing that he would "reconsider" Rice's nomination if she apologised. "Maybe she could start out by publicly coming back on this show and saying, I was wrong, I gave the wrong information on your show some several weeks ago. That might be a beginning," he said on one. | McCain's comments drew a rebuke from President Obama himself, who called the accusations levelled by McCain and his circle "outrageous". Since then, McCain has tempered his language and walked back his earlier rhetoric (although a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives signed a letter on Monday saying Rice was "unfit" to be secretary of state). By last Sunday's talkshows, McCain was reduced to agreeing that he would "reconsider" Rice's nomination if she apologised. "Maybe she could start out by publicly coming back on this show and saying, I was wrong, I gave the wrong information on your show some several weeks ago. That might be a beginning," he said on one. |
| But Rice faces more shadowy and perhaps more dangerous opponents within the media world, with New York Times and Washington Post columnists offering a chorus of attacks on Rice's personality, and both labelling her as not diplomatic enough for the top job at Foggy Bottom. | But Rice faces more shadowy and perhaps more dangerous opponents within the media world, with New York Times and Washington Post columnists offering a chorus of attacks on Rice's personality, and both labelling her as not diplomatic enough for the top job at Foggy Bottom. |
| In the Post, Dana Milbank served up a poisonous anecdote dating back to Bill Clinton's administration, claiming that "she appalled colleagues by flipping her middle finger at Richard Holbrooke during a meeting with senior staff at the State Department, according to witnesses." Milbank's allegations of bad blood between Rice and Hillary Clinton hints at where he derived his anonymous sources. | In the Post, Dana Milbank served up a poisonous anecdote dating back to Bill Clinton's administration, claiming that "she appalled colleagues by flipping her middle finger at Richard Holbrooke during a meeting with senior staff at the State Department, according to witnesses." Milbank's allegations of bad blood between Rice and Hillary Clinton hints at where he derived his anonymous sources. |
| Milbank is even reduced to quoting at second hand an "anonymous Russian foreign ministry official" as saying Rice was too aggressive – as if that was some sort of disqualification for a US official. | Milbank is even reduced to quoting at second hand an "anonymous Russian foreign ministry official" as saying Rice was too aggressive – as if that was some sort of disqualification for a US official. |
| Meanwhile, the New York Times' formidable Maureen Dowd was asking "Is Rice cooked?" in her op-ed column, stating: "Some have wondered if Rice, who has a bull-in-a-china-shop reputation, is diplomatic enough for the top diplomatic job." Dowd mocked Rice as slavishly devoted to the White House and "her pal Valerie Jarrett" and so was too willing to uncritically regurgitate the flawed talking points regarding the Benghazi attack. | Meanwhile, the New York Times' formidable Maureen Dowd was asking "Is Rice cooked?" in her op-ed column, stating: "Some have wondered if Rice, who has a bull-in-a-china-shop reputation, is diplomatic enough for the top diplomatic job." Dowd mocked Rice as slavishly devoted to the White House and "her pal Valerie Jarrett" and so was too willing to uncritically regurgitate the flawed talking points regarding the Benghazi attack. |
| For Obama, though, the Rice storm places him in political conundrum. After the high-profile attacks from the likes of McCain, how can the president not nominate Rice? If he nominates someone else, it will look like he caved to the Benghazi fallout and worries about Rice's nomination getting through the Senate. But if he nominates her, Obama faces a tricky fight that could overshadow the delicate defusing of the timebomb of tax increases and budget cuts ticking away in the background, known as the "fiscal cliff". | For Obama, though, the Rice storm places him in political conundrum. After the high-profile attacks from the likes of McCain, how can the president not nominate Rice? If he nominates someone else, it will look like he caved to the Benghazi fallout and worries about Rice's nomination getting through the Senate. But if he nominates her, Obama faces a tricky fight that could overshadow the delicate defusing of the timebomb of tax increases and budget cuts ticking away in the background, known as the "fiscal cliff". |
| On Rice's nomination, Obama once again faces the arcane rules of the Senate, empowered to "advise and consent" to executive appointments. A Rice nomination would first go before the Senate foreign relations committee – chaired by John Kerry in the current Congress – where Republican headbangers such as Jim Inhofe could draw things out for as long as possible. Eventually, though, the Democratic majority would prevail and the nomination would be recommended to the full Senate. That's when the fun could really start. | On Rice's nomination, Obama once again faces the arcane rules of the Senate, empowered to "advise and consent" to executive appointments. A Rice nomination would first go before the Senate foreign relations committee – chaired by John Kerry in the current Congress – where Republican headbangers such as Jim Inhofe could draw things out for as long as possible. Eventually, though, the Democratic majority would prevail and the nomination would be recommended to the full Senate. That's when the fun could really start. |
The Senate rules allow executive appointments to be filibustered, as the Democratic party did to John Bolton during the previous administration. That filibuster forced President Bush to appoint Bolton as UN ambassador as a "recess appointment" under another constitutional rule, one that isn't open to Obama for the secretary of state job. | The Senate rules allow executive appointments to be filibustered, as the Democratic party did to John Bolton during the previous administration. That filibuster forced President Bush to appoint Bolton as UN ambassador as a "recess appointment" under another constitutional rule, one that isn't open to Obama for the secretary of state job. |
| Rice's nomination, like Bolton's, would be subject to unlimited debate while the Senate was in executive session to consider it. Rice's nomination would also be vulnerable to one or more senators placing it on "hold" and so delaying or preventing it from reaching the Senate floor. If the likes of McCain were threatening to continue debate indefinitely, ending debate requires the passage of a cloture motion, which itself needs to be passed by 60 out of the maximum 100 senators, meaning that the Democrats would need some Republican support. In a highly politicised nomination fight, the chances of that start to vanish. | Rice's nomination, like Bolton's, would be subject to unlimited debate while the Senate was in executive session to consider it. Rice's nomination would also be vulnerable to one or more senators placing it on "hold" and so delaying or preventing it from reaching the Senate floor. If the likes of McCain were threatening to continue debate indefinitely, ending debate requires the passage of a cloture motion, which itself needs to be passed by 60 out of the maximum 100 senators, meaning that the Democrats would need some Republican support. In a highly politicised nomination fight, the chances of that start to vanish. |
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