Monday, April 27, 2009

Stopping Sebelius?   [David Freddoso]

On Thursday, Obama's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), vetoed a Kansas bill that would have placed modest restrictions on late-term and partial-birth abortions. The veto highlighted just how extreme her position on abortion is, and some conservatives have taken heart since then that her confirmation could be in doubt. Some groups are urging public action as the confirmation vote, expected tomorrow, approaches, holding forth hope that she can be blocked.

But Republican Senate aides tell me there is no reason to be so sanguine about blocking her. The partial-birth veto cannot mean much if even Sen. Sam Brownback (R, Kan.), known for his pro-life activism, cannot decisively state right now that the veto has turned him against Sebelius. His most recent statement on the matter is that it is now "harder" to support her.

Brownback is a special case, thanks to his unusual boosting of the Sebelius nomination earlier this year and his desire to succeed her as governor of Kansas. But even if his vote changes, it is just one vote, and it cannot undo the political cover he has been giving her. Moreover, Senate Republicans appear generally unwilling to fight over abortion, perhaps one of the very few issues where the public has been gradually moving in their general direction. President Obama's least popular action to date was his overturning of the Mexico City Policy, which opens federal funding to international abortion groups.

"Before Sebelius vetoed the abortion bill last week, she was probably headed toward confirmation with a vote in the high-70s" out of 99, one GOP Senate source told me. "Now that she's vetoed that, she might be confirmed in the low seventies." Another aide agreed, suggesting that there would probably be at least 25 Republicans in opposition, but no guarantees beyond that.

A Friday article in CQ Today suggested that Republicans, unable or unwilling to fight any of the more significant nominations, have concentrated instead on fighting the appointment of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Even Johnsen, former counsel for the National Abortion Rights Action League, is not being fought by lawmakers primarily over abortion, but over national security.

04/27 10:40 AMShare