But thanks to Democrats’ new anti-filibuster rules, Alejandro Mayorkas sailed through confirmation despite serious questions.
The Washington Times reports:
Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told colleagues he was stunned they were going ahead with the vote.
He said he’d had analysts research the record and they couldn’t find any instances where a nominee under active investigation had been confirmed.
“It’s never been done before,” he said.
Mr. Coburn said if the review, which he said could take a few more months, cleared Mr. Mayorkas then he should easily be confirmed.
The Oklahoma senator also said President Obama was being hypocritical by continuing to push Mr. Mayorkas’s nomination, saying that when he was Sen. Obama he objected to moving ahead with one of President George W. Bush’s nominees while that person was under investigation.