Six former career lawyers in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have urged the Senate Rules Committee to reject Hans von Spakovsky’s nomination to the Federal Election Commission, setting the stage today for a hearing that could erupt into a bitter confirmation fight.
The Justice Department lawyers said Mr. von Spakovsky played a major role in injecting “partisan political factors into decision-making on enforcement matters and into the hiring process” during his tenure overseeing the Civil Rights Division’s voting section from early in 2003 until December 2005.
Mr. von Spakovsky, a temporary recess appointment, is among four nominees to be considered, but the only one to generate controversy in what has become a political firestorm over suspected political influence at the Justice Department.
Several voting rights activists and others have joined in rejecting Mr. von Spakovsky, who President Bush nominated to serve a full six-year term expiring in 2011, citing what they have described as a partisan record while at the Justice Department.
Detractors fault Mr. von Spakovsky for advocating that felons should be purged from voter rolls, a practice criticized in Florida for disenfranchising some black voters in the 2000 presidential election, and cite his decision to override Justice Department lawyers to approve a Georgia law requiring people to present photo identification at polling stations to vote.
Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Democrat and presidential candidate, said Mr. von Spakovsky is more interested in denying voters’ rights than expanding them.
Mr. von Spakovsky, 48, who supporters describe as a “mild-mannered Atlanta lawyer,” has the full backing of President Bush. He worked as a volunteer for the Bush campaign in Florida during the 2000 recount that won Mr. Bush the presidency a role that does little to endear him to Democrats.
“Mr. von Spakovsky is a dedicated commissioner who is committed to ensuring free and fair elections throughout our country,” White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said. “We strongly support his nomination and encourage the Senate to provide him with a fair hearing and swift confirmation process.”
The FEC enforces campaign-finance laws, including disclosing campaign-finance data, policing contributions and overseeing public funding of presidential elections.
The commission, an independent regulatory agency, is made up of six members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. By law, no more than three members can be of the same political party and at least four votes are required for commission action.
A vote by the 19-member Senate Rules Committee has not been scheduled, but Mr. von Spakovsky will find significant support among the committee’s nine Republicans.
Republicans could try to defuse opposition to Mr. von Spakovsky by forcing the committee to choose between voting out all or none of the four nominees stopping Democrats from approving only the nominees from the Democratic Party.
The six former Civil Rights Division employees who signed a letter urging Mr. von Spakovsky’s rejection were Joseph D. Rich, former voting-section chief; Robert A. Kengle, former deputy chief; Jon Greenbaum, senior trial attorney; David J. Becker, senior trial attorney; Bruce Adelson, senior trial attorney; and Toby Moore, political geographer.
S.A. Miller contributed to this report.
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