Talk at the Federalist Society’s conference in Washington was
all about politics as things began to heat up on Thursday
afternoon.
One topic of conversation was the embarrassing political mess
Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law at
Harvard University, has found herself in.
Nominated by President Bush to serve as Ambassador to the
Vatican, Glendon has recently been serving as a key political
adviser to presidential candidate, Gov. Mitt
Romney. But with Romney’s social conservative bona fides
now increasingly in question, Glendon isn’t getting the support
White House officials expected for a woman who has long been
considered pro-life.
According to Senate source, Glendon’s nomination already has a
hold on it, placed by a Republican Senator, with several others
ready to place their own holds on the nomination.
“[The nomination] is DOA as far as we are concerned,” says a
senior Republican Senate aide. “Glendon isn’t going to get this
without a fight from the White House and we don’t think that is
going to happen.”
Not only are some Republicans sharpening their knives, Democrats
are looking to make hay of the nomination. According to a Democrat
leadership aide, Sen. Harry Reid is negotiating
the lifting of the holds on Glendon, with an expectation that the
nomination would be voted down by a full Senate.
“It would be a huge embarrassment to the President, but a bigger
embarrassment to Romney,” says the Senate Democrat.
And it is that political calculus that is another reason for the
stalled nomination. Even those who support the Glendon nomination
now believe that little will be done with it until after the GOP
nomination fight is over.
“Maybe we’ll be able to do something before the Pope comes in
April,” said a supportive Republican.
MUKASEY UNEASE
While the White House is relieved that it was able to successfully
push through the nomination of now-Attorney General Michael
Mukasey, there is continued concern over just what the new
Attorney General will do now that he’s actually in office.
“He’s a good man, but he had to make commitments during the
nomination process and it’s not going to be easy for us,” says one
senior White House aide, who added that festering issues that
Democrats want to capitalize on — FISA warrants and wire-tapping
procedures, U.S. Attorney nominations — are areas where Mukasey
may be boxed in.
“In a nonpolitical world, Judge Mukasey probably understands the
nature of the terrorist threat and the tools we need to combat it,”
says a long-time Justice Department attorney. “But this is a
political world and we don’t know where he’s going to come down on
some of this. A lot of it may be coming at him from Congress.”
