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Leahy and Specter At Odds Over Holder Confirmation
TPMMuckraker — ... In a speech on the Senate floor today, reports The Hill, Specter expressed surprise that Leahy, the committee chair, had scheduled a January 8 kickoff for Holder's confirmation hearing for the Attorney General job. Barack Obama is scheduled to be sworn in January 20. ...

Specter starts playing typical GOP obstruction games with Obama's nominee for Attorney General
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — ... Senate Republicans are trying to remain relevant, but all they know how to do is obstruct. That's one reason why next year there will be only 41, maybe 42, Republicans. But, those GOPers just can't help themselves. They're already up to their old tricks with the new president: ...

DAY'S END ROUNDUP
News — ... writes after news that Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wants to slow down the nomination process for Eric Holder, Obama's pick for attorney general. Specter and committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) could be falling out over Holder's nomination, suggests TPM Muckraker's ...

Specter Tells Leahy to Slow Down Holder Confirmation
RedState: Conservative News and Community — ... J. Taylor Rushing is reporting today that Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) is going to seek to slow down the pace that is being set for the Eric Holder (President-elect Obama’s pick for Attorney General) confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is the Ranking Minority Member.  He has called Democrat Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (Vermont) pace “not realistic”.  Specter notes Holder’s involment in the pardon of Marc Rich as being a concern.  Specter has not said that he would oppose Holder’s nomination, ...

Specter picks a fight over Holder
Political Animal — ... last night that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) "never stops breaking new ground in the contest of political opportunism poseurish chest-thumping." Ain't that the truth . Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, wants to slow down the process of confirming Eric Holder attorney general, citing lingering concerns about the nominee's role in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich. Specter said his concerns do not suggest he would oppose Holder, but said starting the hearings before Jan. 26 is "not realistic or fair." Earlier this week Judiciary Committee ...

Holder Confirmation Hearing Delayed
News — ... Barack Obama assumes the White House Jan. 20. "It is disappointing to me that they are insisting that we delay at a time when the nation needs its top law enforcement officer and national security team in place and working. I trust that with this additional time to prepare, they will cooperate in proceeding promptly to Committee and Senate consideration of the historic Holder nomination as Democrats did for President Bush," Leahy added. Specter, the top Republican on the committee, asked for more time last week, raising questions about Holder's role in President Bill ...

Cristóbal Joshua Alex: Time for Progressives to Fight for the Judiciary They Deserve
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... What can we expect for President Obama's nominees? More of the same. Certain members of the Senate will cower behind procedural hurdles to try to stall votes on clearly qualified nominees. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had previously declared that it would not be "realistic or fair" to hold confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Eric Holder before President Obama's inauguration. Pre-inaugural hearings are a Senate tradition that reflect the importance of Cabinet positions like the Attorney General, which is why in 2000, ...