2001 US press briefings
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
1:38 P.M. EDT
MR. FLEISCHER: Good day. I have personnel announcement, coverage announcement, and then I want to discuss something that is of note in the United States Senate.
The President intends to nominate Wanda Nesbitt to be Ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar. The President intends to nominate Mattie Sharpless to be Ambassador to the Central African Republic. The President intends to nominate George McDade Staples to be Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
On a coverage note, the meeting with Mr. Schundler will be a pool meeting, it will be open to pool at the end of the meeting. You have that on your schedules, that's open to the pool at the end.
I also want to note that the President is very pleased to see that a reorganization agreement has been reached in the United States Senate, which the President hopes will now allow senators and the leadership from both parties to address what is a growing confirmation gap in the United States Senate involving Presidential appointments.
The numbers are very simple and clear. As of June 30th, President Bush has nominated more people for confirmation to the United States Senate than any of his three predecessors, despite the late confirmation, or the late inauguration of the President as a result of the transition. By late inauguration, I mean the amount of time that was available to the President during the transition.
As of June 30th, the President has nominated 315 people to Senate-confirmable posts. That compares with Bill Clinton, who, as of June 30th, nominated 249 people; George Bush, former President, 220 people; and Ronald Reagan, 301 people. President George W. Bush has nominated more than any of these three people. Yet, the record in the Senate shows there is a growing confirmation gap.
For President George W. Bush, the Senate has confirmed only 132 of the President's nominees. Bill Clinton, at the same time, had 188 confirmed; George Bush had 147 confirmed; and Ronald Reagan had 225 confirmed.
So despite the problem of a late transition, President George W. Bush has nominated more people than Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan or George Bush, yet the United States Senate lags far, far behind. The problem is in both parties. There have been holds put by people in both parties. And the people believes that it's the interest of good government for the Senate, now that a reorganization agreement has been reached in a bipartisan fashion, to step-up the pace and to confirm his nominees, because the only people who get hurt are the citizens of the country when we do not have a government in place.
Q What is the problem in both parties, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: There is just a lag. It does not seem to be a high enough priority of the United States Senate for attention to be focused on it. We have entered an era where senators, individual senators are putting holds on individual people for a wide variety of reasons that seem to be much greater than previously done. And the numbers speak for themselves.
Q But you think it goes beyond attributing it to just the changeover in the Senate?
MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, because the lag began even before the changeover. I mean, there has been a lag in the last month, even more pronounced. For example, as of May 31st, the Senate confirmed 129 people; as of June 30th, 132. So only three people were confirmed in one month's time.
Now, I do think it's legitimate to allow the Senate at the time to enter into an agreement on the reorganization resolution, which they have done. And the White House issued no comments during this period of time which hardly anybody was confirmed. But now that the Senate has reached this agreement, the President believes it's very important for the senators to step up the pace and begin the confirmation process anew, so that the government can be put in place.
Q Ari, speaking of nominations, how come there's been such a delay in finding somebody to run the FBI?
MR. FLEISCHER: I just don't agree with that characterization of a delay. The FBI is a position unlike almost any other position that a President will make an appointment to. It is a fixed 10-year term. It has a jurisdiction and an impact on people's lives that is very direct, very pronounced. And it's the type of decision that a President should weigh carefully and thoroughly before naming someone. And that's the approach that the President has taken.
Q Is there a problem, though? Is it detrimental for the FBI to be sort of leaderless and without a permanent chief for any long period of time?