May 6, 2008
Posted: 08:05 PM ET
From CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry 
President Bush tried to break election watchdog deadlock Tuesday.
 WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate Democrats accused President Bush Tuesday of withdrawing one of his Federal Elections Commission nominees to protect Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president. The president revamped his list of nominees earlier Tuesday in an effort to break a long deadlock that has paralyzed the election watchdog in the middle of a contentious campaign year. But instead of withdrawing the name of Republican Hans von Spakovsky — a former Justice Department Civil Rights section lawyer some Democrats believe promoted policies that harmed minority voters — Bush dropped commission chairman David Mason, a Republican who has blocked McCain's attempts to abandon the presidential public financing system. Bush replaced Mason on his list with Republican Donald McGahn, the National Republican Congressional Committee's lead lawyer and a former attorney for Rep. Tom Delay, the former Republican House Majority Leader with connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. DeLay resigned from Congress
"By abandoning Mr. Mason and instead sticking by Mr. von Spakovsky, the White House has abandoned experience and independence for partisan loyalty," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "That is the White House's choice. It is a regrettable one. Nonetheless, we will work towards the confirmation of the remaining nominees and expect to defeat Mr. von Spakovsky. We will work to ensure that the commission is constituted so that it will be able to function in this election year." In February, Mason sent a letter to McCain saying the presidential candidate could not abandon the strict spending limits of the primary election's public financing system without first answering the FEC's questions about a loan he received last November to help keep his struggling campaign afloat. Mason wrote that McCain had to assure the FEC he did not use the promise of millions of dollars in public funds to obtain the $4 million line of credit. McCain attorney Trevor Potter, a former FEC chairman, has maintained the candidate legitimately opted out of the federal system and thus is not limited to spending approximately $54 million in the primary season. If McCain is bound by the federal limits, he might have difficulty funding his campaign between "The only apparent reason for President Bush to drop Commissioner David Mason at this stage, an FEC candidate he had twice proposed for the Commission, is to prevent him from casting an adverse vote against Senator McCain on important enforcement questions pending at the Commission," said Fred Mason, originally nominated to the commission by President Bill Clinton and nominated twice by Bush, is one of only two members remaining on the commission. Democrat Ellen Weintraub is the other; other members of the commission, including von Spakovsky, were recess appointments whose terms expired when the new Congress took office at the beginning of the year. Bush has also nominated Republican Caroline Hunter and Democrats Cynthia Bauerly and Steven Walther to serve on the six-member commission, which is required by law to have no more than three members of any one political party. White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten informed Reid of the nominations by phone Tuesday, and followed up with a letter saying the nominations package "provides a clear path to our shared goal of a fully functioning six-member FEC" by Memorial Day. Manley said that Democrats "appreciate the recognition by the White House that the FEC requires a full six members to accomplish its mission." But he said Democrats are disappointed that Bush decided not to drop von Spakovsky while nominating McGahn for the seat currently held by Mason. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Tuesday the nominations proposal is a "blueprint for a fully functioning, bipartisan FEC — a goal we all share — and an end to the bottleneck created by the Democrats' opposition" to von Spakovsky. Filed under: President Bush |
 
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