Graham and Inhofe should be ashamed of themselves for putting petty personal demands ahead of the country’s needs

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For Two Senators, Petty Politics Comes First
New York Times editorial, published February 11, 2013

Individual senators hold an enormous amount of power in Washington, which is exactly the way they like it. But when that power is abused, as two Republicans are now doing in trying to derail the nomination of a defense secretary, it has to be curtailed.

The two senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, say they will place “holds” on President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel to run the Pentagon. A hold is a kind of minifilibuster, preventing unanimous consent to take up a bill or nomination, and preventing an up-or-down vote. Using this power for showboating, as Mr. Graham and Mr. Inhofe are doing, shows how easy it has become for senators to put petty personal demands ahead of the country’s needs.

Mr. Inhofe told National Review on Monday that he would block Mr. Hagel’s nomination on the Senate floor for “a long, long time.” The reason? He thinks Mr. Hagel is “anti-Israel,” and he hopes the delay will pressure pro-Israel Democrats. Mr. Hagel, in fact, has 12 years’ worth of votes in support of Israel, and he amplified that backing in his confirmation hearing. But because he has also dared to express concern about the plight of Palestinians in their quest for a state, he has given Mr. Inhofe a platform to make extremist charges.

Mr. Graham is being even more petulant. With his eye clearly on his Republican primary next year, he said on Sunday that he would block the nomination of Mr. Hagel (and of John Brennan to run the C.I.A.) until he finds out whether Mr. Obama called the Libyan government last September during the takeover of the American consulate in Benghazi. This is a continuation of his party’s fantasy of a direct connection between the president and the deaths of four Americans. Most Republicans gave up on this nonsense after Mr. Obama’s re-election, when it was no longer useful to them, but Mr. Graham is proving to be the ultimate dead-ender.

This kind of posturing is exactly why holds and filibusters against nominees have to end. Any senator is free to cast a vote for or against a nominee but should not be able to prevent others from doing so.
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