Elisabeth Ann Hagen

Has she pissed anybody off? (4.00 / 1)

I haven't followed it closely, myself.  Interesting WaPo article... from January!

But the Obama administration has had a difficult time filling the post of chief food safety official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it wasn't until this week -- one year into his term -- that the president nominated someone to assume that role. The choice of Elisabeth Hagen, 40, a physician with four years' experience in food safety, surprised food safety advocates, who said they knew little about her.

A spokesman at the USDA said Hagen is declining interview requests as she awaits confirmation by the Senate. Her nomination does not appear to face strong opposition.

The meat industry applauded the selection. "Hagen brings the background, skills and vision to lead USDA's efforts to make sure that Americans have access to a safe and healthy food supply," said Patrick J. Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute.

You may have uncovered some cloak and dagger stuff here, man...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

---

by: JayinPortland @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 19:49:50 PM UTC

I think you're right nt (4.00 / 2)

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 20:15:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Stoking my paranoia... (4.00 / 1)

I've been watching too many David Lynch films lately, as well.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

---

by: JayinPortland @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 20:18:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

opposition (4.00 / 1)

I surely could be wrong, but I can't imagine there would be much opposition, either to the nominee herself or to filling the position. The only thing that comes to my mind is that someone is using this nomination to extort something else, either from PBO or from Senate leadership.

As I say, I could be wrong.

---

by: count @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 20:24:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Catfish? (4.00 / 1)

Know anything about this?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

---

by: JayinPortland @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 20:25:07 PM UTC

catfish (4.00 / 1)

The only question I remember Lincoln asking Hagen during the very brief committee hearing about the nomination was about the catfish rule. Hagen said she was for getting it out, but I don't remember any discussion about what should be in the rule.

August is National Catfish Month in the U.S.

You may have something. The catfish rule could be a bigger deal than I would have thought. In that vein, let's just note for fun:

From the U.S. Catfish Institute,

Ninety-four percent of all U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish is raised in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

---

by: count @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 21:10:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Google... (4.00 / 1)

"Elisabeth Hagen Senate" - the fourth hit is this diary, the twentieth is Jill's diary in which you made the comment you refer to above.

The rest of the top three or four pages are articles / blog posts from January - June.

This is really something...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

---

by: JayinPortland @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 20:28:30 PM UTC

Not familiar with... (4.00 / 1)

...how this works, but her nomination is listed at the top of page 9 on the (pdf) Senate Executive Calendar for Monday, September 13, 2010 (pdf).

Does that mean she'll be confirmed then, or along with all the other outstanding nominees do they just stay on each day's calendar until they're confirmed?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

---

by: JayinPortland @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 20:37:03 PM UTC

calendar (4.00 / 1)

Stranch is the only nomination currently scheduled for consideration on September 13. The other nominees on the list are parked (that's what "status quo" means.)

---

by: count @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 21:05:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Senatorial pettiness (4.00 / 2)

Hagen could be being held up for any number of reasons, related or not to food safety or food.  Certain senators are just being jerks. I read somewhere that the ambassador to the Dominican Republic -- a pretty important country with Haiti still recovering from the earthquake -- is being held up by a senator (Kyl (R-AZ)?) because he/she is mad about sanctions on Iran. Not policy in Latin America, but Iran, half a world away.  And then there was that stalemate over something because Bunning (R-KY) is mad about Canada's banning of candy-flavored cigarettes.  

It is absolutely crazy that some of these mid-level nominees and ambassadors are being held up by pettiness. They'd probably get approved with 90+ ayes, but obstructionists won't even let them come to a vote without the Senate grinding through its multi-day cloture process. And with all of the important things going on, do we want to tie up the Senate for a week with a mid-level appointment?

When the new Senate takes office in January, there will be a chance to change the Senate rules, perhaps to get rid of some of the crazy obstruction points.  David Roberts hosted a series on the filibuster over at Grist that has some good info. Write to your Senators and ask them to consider Udall's "Constitutional Option" or other common-sense reforms, like requiring 41 votes to maintain a filibuster instead of 60 to break it.

---

by: mental_masala @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 21:36:41 PM UTC

Dominican Republic (4.00 / 1)

Interesting. 27 ambassadors were confirmed Thursday, by my count. The only two ambassadors who are still parked are the ones to Dominican Republic and Syria.

---

by: count @ Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 22:00:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The Senate is the World's Worst Debating Body (4.00 / 2)

It's a club for doddering, egotistical multi-millionaires.

And Obama is a skunk for not recess-appointing more of the staff we need. When I'm President, I'll give the Senate 90 days or do recess for all appropriate appointments.

---

by: Crider @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 00:06:37 AM UTC

recess appointments (4.00 / 2)

Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution says among other things:

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Whatever the plain meaning of those plain words might have been when the Constitution was ratified, the Eleventh Circuit decided (2004) that the Constitution permitted recess appointments to fill vacancies that existed prior to the recess. It also decided that appointments could be made during intrasession recesses. These interpretations have not been tested in the Supreme Court.

A Congressional "term" has two annual "sessions." If PBO appointed Hagen during this recess, her position would become vacant again unless the Senate confirmed her before the end of the next session.

I agree with you. PBO has mishandled this very badly.

---

by: count @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 02:59:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I thought Bush did a lot of recess appointments (4.00 / 2)

Could the 11th Circuit decision have been caused by that?

This kind of BS goes on all the time about appointees being hung up by some one with a beef that has nothing to do with the appointee or his/her job. I remember when Clinton was being harangued by the conservatives for not having filled a lot of appointment positions. Of course, in that case, it was the republicans holding up the appointees' confirmations. I seem to also remember a lot of democrats holding up Bush's appointees for various reasons, many of which didn't have anything to do with the appointees or their jobs. Now the pendulum has swung back the other way.

I just wish the partisanship and bickering could go away, the senators would grow up, and let the process continue the way it should.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 05:10:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Absolutely correct (4.00 / 1)

Bush appointed a judge to the Eleventh Circuit by means of a recess appointment. That judge participated in some decisions that went against some criminal defendants, and some of those defendants appealed the results on the basis that Pryor's appointment was illegitimate. The Eleventh Circuit decision might be considered somewhat peculiar, because it came in a suit against itself.

---

by: count @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 05:24:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Here's a great example of what I was talking about regarding partisanship (4.00 / 1)

and presidential appointments.
Recess Appointments - Despicable, Unless Your Side Does It

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 05:36:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dawn Johnson (0.00 / 0)

Obama withdrew the Dawn Johnson nomination on April 12, 2010.

Withdrawn nominations

---

by: count @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 05:53:50 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Even Justice Roberts supports recess appointments (4.00 / 2)

I can't find it right now, but a few months ago a left-leaning blog had a piece about obstructionism from GOP senators and noted that in oral arguments at the Supreme Court, the subject of an unfilled vacancy came up and the Solicitor General noted that the President had appointed someone but the Senate would not act. Justice Roberts then asked something like "Well, then why don't you use a recess appointment like the Constitution provides?"

I suspect that the temper tantrum factor (i.e., GOP Senators and the right-wing media will throw a temper tantrum like 5 year olds) is one reason why the admin won't do more recess appointments.  The other is that they have a fixed expiration date, which can cause bureaucratic messiness.

Can a recess appointed bureaucrat remain in the position in an "acting" capacity after the recess appointment has expired? Or are they booted from the office?

---

by: mental_masala @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 15:07:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Good question on the acting capacity (4.00 / 1)

The temper tantrums and bickering on both sides on the senate floor just absolutely gives me the Peedoodles. I've heard more than one person who knows the workings of the senate and relationships of the senators with each other say that off the clock lots of them and not antithetical towards each other, will have a drink together, etc. But once they get on the floor of the senate they'll scream and holler, call each other names, and pull all sorts of stunts (this is true of dems and repubs both). Makes absolutely no sense at all to me. If you can be sociable off the clock, they're idiots to be antithetical on the clock.

Reminds me of the cartoons about Wile E. Coyote and the sheep dog. Off the clock they were friends, but once they punched in, the coyote was trying to kill the sheep and the sheep dog was trying to kill the coyote.....

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 16:48:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

off the clock (0.00 / 0)

One example. Tom Coburn is a Republican Senator from Oklahoma. I have heard some of his town hall meetings on C-SPAN Radio, and I've been impressed. I can see why Oklahoma voters would elect him. He's dead knowledgeable on any issue a questioner brings up, including the status of legislation that he isn't personally involved with. He discusses issues from more than one point of view, he's reasonable, all sorts of good stuff.

What happens to this man when he goes back to D.C. and gets in front of a TV camera? He seems to want to be known as The Stupidest Man On The Planet. Does he think he needs to out-stupid Inhofe?

Perhaps instead of "off the clock", it's more like "away from the TV machine."

---

by: count @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 18:28:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Instead of in front of the TV (4.00 / 1)

that should be while off the floor of the senate, even while they're in session, after hours, it's my understanding that these people can be downright civil to one another.

I think one of the big hurdles our senators are going to have to get over eventually is the heavy duty partisanship on both sides that hamstrings this country on a continuous basis. It's why I don't have any respect for either party anymore.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

---

by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 23:32:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

acting (4.00 / 1)

A person could remain as "acting" if the President made an "acting" appointment. Otherwise, the office becomes vacant.

"Acting" is an arcane aspect of the Undersecretary for Food Safety issue that I don't understand. This position has been filled in the past by more than one appointed "Acting Undersecretary." I've wondered why Obama had not appointed an "Acting" somewhere along the way.

FSIS has had a confirmed Deputy Undersecretary named Jerold R. Mande for about a year. I don't know whether this position was originally intended to be more of an administrative position than a policy position, but regardless, he's been the person congressional committees have had to talk to when the want to talk to the head of FSIS, in the absence of an Undersecretary.

President Obama might think Mande is the Acting Undersecretary, and I guess he de facto is. I have been singularly unimpressed.

---

by: count @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 18:44:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

and more about recess (4.00 / 1)

A nominee who gains office by a recess appointment remains on the Senate Executive Calendar as a nominee, and can be confirmed by the Senate at any time.

---

by: count @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 19:05:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And when you're president... (4.00 / 2)

...I assume I'll receive fair consideration in my next bid to be appointed to the US Supreme Court?

I'll show them an activist judge!

;)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

---

by: JayinPortland @ Sun Aug 08, 2010 at 09:46:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]