*Note- conflicting reports on how Montana’s Senators voted are available via Politico and The Hill. I am awaiting response from Walsh’s office to confirm his vote. However- according to the Senate’s roll call web page, Walsh voted against cloture. In the meantime, this post has been updated to reflect the discrepancy.
Yesterday, I posed a question with this headline- Will Walsh and Tester Confirm Cop Killer Advocate?
According to Politico, Democratic SenatorJon Tester (D-MT) voted in support of cop killer advocate Debo Adegbile. However, The Hill is reporting that Walsh voted against the nomination. (Thanks to Nathan Kosted for The Hill article)
Either way, his nomination was rejected, despite a rule change and the rare appearance of Vice President Joe Biden, who was hoping to break a tie vote.
Tester apparently sided with the Obama Administration over the objections of the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association of Police Officers.
Politico has the story:
Several Senate Democrats joined with Republicans on Wednesday to block President Barack Obama’s controversial nominee to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
The nomination was also opposed by local Pennsylvania officials as well as national organizations like the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association of Police Officials, which described Adegbile as someone who “made his name defending one of the most notorious and unrepentant cop killers around.”
But it wasn’t just the GOP. Along with Casey, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Chris Coons of Delaware voted to block the nomination. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also voted no, which — under Senate rules — allows him to bring the nomination back to the floor at a later time.
The Hill adds this:
It’s the first time a nomination has gone down since Democrats changed the Senate’s filibuster rules so that only bare-majority votes are needed on procedural motions.
Vice President Biden presided over the vote and would have been available to break a time, but his vote was not needed.
In my post earlier this week, National Review noted:
Toomey and Williams point out that their concern is not that Adegbile acted as an attorney for a criminal defendant. “The right to counsel is a fundamental part of America’s criminal justice system, and no lawyer should be faulted for the crimes of his clients.” But what Adegbile did was “to seize on a case and turn it into a political platform from which to launch an extreme attack on the justice system.”
Al Smith
Thursday, March 06, 2014 7:42 PM
It should come as no surprise Tester sided with the Administration. He has always been and will continue to be an Obama yes-man. He very seldom represents Montana values on most issues.
By the way, thank Dan Cox and the Libertarian party for sending old Flat Top to Washington again. Think about it next time you feel the urge to vote for a loser.