President Obama has withdrawn the nomination of John J. Sullivan for a seat on the Federal Election Commission, yielding to pressure from groups supportive of campaign finance regulation that criticized Sullivan.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), encouraged by “reform” groups, placed an informal hold on Sullivan last July. After more than a year of limbo—following unanimous approval by the Senate Rules Committee—it seems Sullivan decided to move on.
“Pro-regulation groups have succeeded in blocking a supremely qualified nominee to the Federal Election Commission simply because they disagreed with his work as an attorney for a client,” said Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Bradley A. Smith. “These groups don’t care about good government or the law, they just want someone on the FEC who will toe their anti-speech line.”
Sullivan had broad, bipartisan support, but his nomination was scuttled to appease a consortium of interest groups opposed to expanding political speech rights. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid supported a vote on Sullivan and Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) praised Sullivan, calling him “eminently well qualified for this position.” Indeed, it appears not a single Senator besides McCain and Feingold opposed his nomination.
“In recent years, campaign finance ‘reformers’ have bemoaned the supposed dysfunction at the FEC as it sought to implement court decisions protecting First Amendment rights,” Smith said. “It seems their strategy now is to simply oppose any nominee who would faithfully implement campaign finance law and regulations in favor of someone who shares their regulatory worldview.”
