Conservatives just might gain a victory against Barack Obama. The President may be popular but his nominee to be the head of the Justice department's Office of Legal Counsel is running into confirmation problems. Her name is Dawn Johnsen and her past comments on abortion are becoming an issue.
Watch a speech just given on the House floor about her by conservative Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Pitts. You can watch it here. The transcription of what he said is below.
Mr. Speaker, the President’s nominee head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel is truly from the radical fringe, which is why her confirmation is running into so much trouble in the Senate.
That person is Dawn Johnsen, a former attorney for one of the nation’s largest and most radical abortion groups.
Ms. Johnsen’s own quotes speak for her radical views.
She equated pregnancy to slavery, when she said that laws restricting a woman’s “abortion choice are disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude.”
She has likened pregnant mothers to “no more than fetal containers.”
And she claims that abortion is a “relief” rather than the traumatic experience it truly is for women.
Her appointment is a slap in the face to fair minded Americans. And now Senator Reid has indicated he does not have the votes needed to bring her nomination to the Senate floor. The President should take a cue from the Senate and withdraw this mistaken nomination—a nomination that runs counter to the values of the American people.
It doesn't look that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has the votes to confirm her in the Senate. Read below from Roll Call:
As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moves to ease a backlog of executive branch nominations, he suggested on Tuesday that he does not have the votes to bring up President Barack Obama’s pick to run the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
“Right now we’re finding out when to do that,” Reid said, responding to a question about the status of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to the Justice post. “We need a couple Republican votes until we can get to 60.”
Johnsen has come under fire from some social conservatives, who have voiced concerns over her positions on abortion and the war on terror.
Johnsen had a contentious confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 25. The panel approved her nomination on March 20 on a party-line, 11-7, vote.
But Reid indicated Tuesday that at least a few Democrats would also oppose Johnsen, making the task of reaching 60 votes to avert a Republican filibuster even more difficult.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) “is very concerned” about Johnsen’s nomination, press secretary Clay Westrope said, pointing to her tenure as the legal director of NARAL Pro-Choice America as a point of concern.
Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), who recently joined the Democratic Conference after 29 years as a Republican Senator, has stated that he will vote against Johnsen’s nomination when it hits the floor.