Sen. Ben Nelson To Help Thwart Labor Nominee

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

A fair number of President Obamas nominees for government posts have not been confirmed. Theyre caught up in Senate politics. There are more than 200 such cases right now, and NPRs Peter Overby looks at one nominee who is scheduled for a Senate vote.

PETER OVERBY: Of all the nominations languishing in the Senate, union lawyer Craig Beckers has been languishing has been languishing longer than most -since last July, to be exact. Its taken that long because of the two forces that have reduced the Senate to near paralysis: partisanship, and the fact that a simple majority isnt enough to get anything done.

Within days after Becker was nominated, business groups accused of views on labor law that were extreme and alarming. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce accurately tagged his former employer, the Service Employees International Union, as one of the most aggressive unions in the U.S.

Mr. RANDY JOHNSON (Senior Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce): No one expected Obama to appoint a conservative.

OVERBY: Randy Johnson is a senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber.

Mr. JOHNSON: It was like sort of a poke in the eye, I guess.

OVERBY: Most presidential appointees don't get anything like the scrutiny of, say, a prospective Supreme Court justice. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hadnt held a hearing on a Nation Relations Board nominee in 17 years. Becker did what other nominees do. He met with committee members, and he answered written questions.

But in October, Republicans said they wanted a hearing. They made their request the day before the committee was going to vote. Democrats said no hearing, just a vote. And Becker was approved, along with two other NLRB nominees - one Democrat, one Republican.

Then, a single senator, Arizona Republican John McCain, put a halt on the nomination. Everything stopped - not just for Becker, but for the two other nominees, as well.

By the way, until the NLRB gets three more board members, it doesnt even have a legal quorum. Republicans got their hearing on Becker last week, but if anything has changed, its hard to see. Committee chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa did the reintroduction.

Senator TOM HARKIN (Democrat, Iowa): He has met personally with any senator who has requested it. He has answered more than 280 written questions from this committee.

OVERBY: And the ranking Republican at the hearing, Georgias Johnny Isakson, renewed the business allegations.

Senator JOHNNY ISAKSON (Republican, Georgia): Just yesterday, the committee received two letters in opposition to Mr. Beckers nomination, one from 23 major trade associations representing millions of American employers, another from 600 manufacturers nationwide.

OVERBY: Becker again told the senators what hed told them in private: that he would scrupulously avoid conflict of interest. McCain scoffed, as he had before.

Senator JOHN MCCAIN (Republican, Arizona): Thats not good enough. Thats not good enough.

OVERBY: And Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota took a swipe at McCain.

Senator AL FRANKEN (Democrat, Minnesota): I guess this was really the result of the insistence of a member who put a hold on this process. Did that senator, during all these months and months, submit any of those written questions?

OVERBY: Becker said he didn't think so. The committee reapproved Becker. The only thing new: This time, all the Republicans voted no. And for presidential nominations, thats the easy part.

Now the nomination faces a filibuster. Democrats need 60 votes to go forward. There are 59 Democrats. And last night, Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson said hell vote with the Republicans.

Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.