Thread: Senate confirms Saldaña at ICE, Blinken at State

Senate confirms Saldaña at ICE, Blinken at State

By SEUNG MIN KIM and BURGESS EVERETT
12/16/14 3:39 PM EST
Updated 12/16/14 7:31 PM EST

Eyeing the end of a bitterly partisan session, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed both the deputy secretary of State and a top Obama administration immigration official as Democrats sought to capitalize on the last days of their majority and get out of town for the year.

The vote to install Sarah Saldaña, currently the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, as the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement was 55-39 and faced almost unanimous GOP opposition— the first time Republicans have taken out their furor over President Barack Obama’s immigration executive actions against a nominee. Saldaña will now oversee one of the three key agencies under the Department of Homeland Security that handle immigration.

Meanwhile, Tony Blinken, currently a top national security adviser to Obama, was confirmed 55-38 to be deputy secretary of State over the objections of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). McCain tried to hold up Blinken’s confirmation in recent weeks and on Tuesday lit into the now confirmed diplomat as “not only unqualified, but in fact, in my view, one of the worst selections of a very bad lot that this president has chosen.”

“Mr. Blinken has been a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Biden since his days in the Senate. But as Roberts Gates has noted, Mr. Biden has been wrong on every national security issue over the past decade,” McCain said in a lengthy floor speech. “Mr. Blinken has been a functionary and an agent of a U.S. foreign policy that has made the world much less safe today.”

Both Saldaña and Blinken fell short of garnering the support of 60 senators during votes to clear a filibuster, indicating they benefited from Senate Democrats’ unilateral rules change to ease the confirmation of Obama’s nominees.

Saldaña appeared to be on a relatively smooth road to confirmation earlier this year, when her nomination sailed through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and home-state Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), gave her a warm reception as he introduced her during her confirmation hearing.

But then Obama went through with his executive-action pledge to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and grant them three-year work permits. Senate Republicans quizzed Saldaña in a written questionnaire whether she supported the unilateral actions, and she responded that she did.

“I believe that the president of the United States, as others before him, has legal authority to take executive action to address areas within the purview of the executive branch,” Saldana wrote to Senate Republicans.

Once her nomination came up before the Senate Judiciary Committee, all GOP senators on the panel voted against her, including immigration reform advocates such as Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said this week that Saldaña’s “answer reflects a remarkable disregard for the rule of law that demonstrates the difficulty she’ll have as being the leader of this important ICE agency.”

“Although I respect her and respect her record of public service, including an admirable and independent streak that she demonstrated as U.S. attorney, I’m concerned that she’s also demonstrated that her commitment to the rule of law may falter where the Immigration and Nationality Act is concerned,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Only two Republicans supported Saldaña’s confirmation — Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

The Republican opposition to Saldaña stemming from the controversial executive actions also underscores that immigration will be a central issue in the confirmation of Brooklyn prosecutor Loretta Lynch for attorney general.

As ICE director, Saldaña will play a key role in implementing one element of Obama’s executive actions — refocusing enforcement priorities to go after recent border-crossers and immigrants suspected of major criminal activity.

Senate Democrats vented their frustration with Republicans, noting that the GOP weren’t dismissing Saldaña’s credentials and résumé but opposing her confirmation solely on the grounds of Obama’s actions. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, noting that after Republicans successfully forced short-term funding of the Department of Homeland Security, they were opposing a person charged with carrying out immigration enforcement, adding: “If you think that this is hard to understand or follow, imagine what we’ve seen over the last two years.”

“We cannot judge the qualifications of Sarah Saldaña to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement based solely on the fact that she agrees with the policy decisions of the president who nominated her,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said Tuesday. “That is an absurd and completely illogical standard.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/1...#ixzz3M701LHnS

by Tony Lee 16 Dec 2014 238 post a comment
On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Sarah Saldana, who has said she would implement President Barack Obama's executive amnesty and believes that illegal immigrants who qualify for it have a "right" to citizenship, to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency tasked with enforcing the country's immigration laws.

She was confirmed by a 55-39 vote.

When Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX), all of whom subsequently opposed her nomination, asked Saldana, the current U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, whether she supported Obama's executive amnesty, she replied:

I believe that the President of the United States, as others before him, has legal authority to take Executive action to address areas within the purview of the Executive branch. It is my understanding that the recently announced Executive action pertaining to immigration was reviewed, shaped and considered by a number of people in whom I have great confidence, including Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder.

I also understand that the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice published an opinion explaining in great detail the legal authority and precedents for the President's actions concerning enforcement prioritization and deferred action. Unless and until the President's action is invalidated or withdrawn, I am bound to faithfully execute applicable laws, regulations and policy.

In addition, when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, asked her if she agreed with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson that illegal immigrants who qualify for Obama's executive amnesty have "earned the right to be citizens," Saldana replied that she agreed:

Yes, since I believe that Secretary Johnson was not referring to all immigrants who entered the country illegally, but to those who have been identified as eligible for prosecutorial discretion, such as deferred action.

Lee said Saldana's "bold assertion" that some illegal immigrants have a "right" to citizenship is an "unacceptable view" for someone nominated to head ICE. Cruz said that Saldana would merely be a "rubber stamp" for Obama's executive amnesty. Sessions urged Congress not to "vote to accelerate its own demise" by confirming Saldana. Sessions said "Congress cannot and must not confirm anyone to lead an agency in DHS or other law enforcement agency who supports executive amnesty" because "the first priority of Congress must be to restore the rule of law, secure the border, and bring the administration into compliance with the laws of the United States."

No Democrat voted against Saldana while two Republicans -- Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) -- voted to confirm her nomination.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...to-Citizenship