Here’s Tony Snow at today’s White House press briefing today:
And finally, on a pending matter, Jim Nussle as the budget director. His nomination has been up for six-and-a-half weeks. Members of the House and Senate know Jim Nussle. They know he’s competent, they know he is capable of working in a professional and bipartisan manner. You’ve had testimony with House Budget Committee chairmen and subcommittee chairs who have worked with him and served as co-chairs on a variety of committees. He needs to be confirmed before Congress leaves town.
Rob Portman is going to head back to Cincinnati after — at the close of business tomorrow. If Congress is talking seriously about budget matters, and they say they want to, they’ve got to have somebody to talk to. So we do believe it is important and incumbent upon Congress to go ahead and nominate a good man that everybody knows is competent and capable, and that is Jim Nussle.
Any good reason Nussle is being held up is a mystery to me. The only real reason, as former congressman Ernest Istook said earlier this week, is that Senate Dems simply want who and what they want. But when it comes to presidential nominations, that’s not the way it works. Just confirm him already.