Matthew Murray, Roll Call
May 21, 2008
The Senate Rules and Administration Committee is holding a hearing today on three pending Federal Election Commission nominations that may soon reconstitute the shuttered elections regulator.
Democratic nominee Cynthia Bauerly, along with Republican picks Caroline Hunter and Don McGahn, will appear before the panel this afternoon in what is expected to be a perfunctory affair. Bauerly is a top lawyer for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and a largely unknown figure to outside watchdog groups. A former policy director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bauerly would sit on the commission until 2011.
Hunter, whose proposed nomination would expire in 2013, is a seasoned — and fully vetted — GOP insider who has worked in the current Bush White House and as a lawyer at the Republican National Committee. She sits on the Election Assistance Commission.
If any sparks arise, they would be during a potential Democratic grilling of former National Republican Congressional Committee lawyer McGahn, whose nomination was initially criticized by campaign finance reform groups and The New York Times editorial board because of his previous legal stances and close ties to GOP campaign committees. Read full story >