The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-5 today (on party lines, with the exception of Richard Lugar, who voted yes) to move Harold Koh’s nomination to the full Senate.

Jim DeMint, who placed the hold on Koh that postponed the vote for a week, reportedly is considering placing a hold on him on the Senate floor, as is John Cornyn.  That could require a cloture vote, which, of course, means taking valuable time away from pressing matters in order to satisfy the whims of one or two Senators.

I wish it were the case that most of these guys are opposing Koh on the grounds of principle.  When I went to the confirmation hearing, it was clear that those opposed to him really only knew a few sound bites, and weren’t that interested in hearing his answers (the exception was Roger Wicker of Mississippi, whose questions were both fair-minded and tough — I didn’t agree with him, but it was clear that he had done his homework).

This has been and will remain a question of a future vacancy on the Supreme Court.  The hard right isn’t interested in whether Koh will be legal advisor; they only want to do enough to convince any Democratic President that s/he should not risk nominating Koh.

This is about pre-emptive elimination of worthy talent.  Nothing more.  And it’s a tragedy.  Apparently the judicial wars now extend to sub-cabinet nominees.

Here’s hoping that the Senate moves quickly to confirm Koh, Dawn Johnsen, and other worthy sub-Cabinet appointees whose confirmations are being held hostage to future political battles.

Related posts

• More Detail on the Koh Cloture Vote
• Messaging 101: Don’t Let the Other Side Define Your Message
• Harold Koh: Senate Votes to Close Debate
• Fallacies by the Whelan-Barrow
• A Conservative Argument for Confirming Harold Koh