News coverage of the Senate’s confirmation of Congressman Mel Watt on Tuesday to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency was all about politics, not the housing or banking issues he now has to address. Nominated by President Barack Obama in May, Republicans blocked his approval for seven months. They claimed that Watt was not qualified for the position, despite his Yale law degree and his two decades of service on the House Financial Services Committee. In fact, their opposition had nothing to do with Watt’s qualifications. He was simply a victim of Washington’s partisan gridlock. On October 31, the Senate voted 56-42 on his behalf, but it was four votes shy of the 60 needed on the cloture motion to move forward. That made Watt the first sitting member of Congress since 1843 to be rejected by his peers for a cabinet-level position.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=208564