Filibustering presidential appointments

[Richard D. Friedman]

Whatever the merits of the answer to Sandy's question, it might be worth 
pointing out that Greenspan himself -- twice nominated to head the Fed by 
the last Democratic President -- is also, or at least long was, a devotee 
of Ayn Rand.

Rich Friedman

At 11:38 PM 6/2/2005, Sanford Levinson wrote:
>
>There is a strong argument that the President is entitled to have
>whomever he wants to fill cabinet positions (including, arguendo, the UN
>ambassadorship) because, after all, they are all political appointments
>in the specific sense of legitimately being devoted simply to carrying
>out the President's agenda (for which he is, at least in theory,
>accountable).  Obviously, some of us believe that less deference is due
>to judicial appointees, because of their lifetime character and the
>myth, at least, that they have some function other than pushing the
>party-in-power's agenda.  But where do chairs of "independent agencies"
>fit.  If one is appalled by the replacement of SEC Commissioner
>Donaldson by Rep. Cox (a devotee of Ayn Rand, we are told in tomorrow's
>New York Times), then would it be proper for the Senate Democrats to
>indicate the degree of their displeasure by filibustering the
>nomination.  Or, let me put it a slightly different way:  If in fact one
>thinks it's legitmate to filibuster judicial nominees, then why isn't it
>equally legitimate to filibuster appointees to "independent agencies"?
>I mean this as a serious question, because I do begin with the
>presumption that presidents are entitled to pick (and have confirmed)
>whom they want for cabinet positions save for truly "exceptional
>circumstances."  (One might ultimately ask the same question about Alan
>Greenspan's successor:  I.e., should the standard be "unless something
>truly exceptional turns up" or "do we really trust this person to
>exercise the enormous discretion he/she will have responsibly, which
>means, among other things, that one thinks of something other than
>furthering the president's agenda"?)
>
>sandy
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