Lamar Alexander Isn’t Just The Man Who Makes The Deals

By Kleinheider Posted on May 23, 2008 at 9:10 am

He breaks them, too. Republican Senate Conference Committee Chair Lamar Alexander is a powerful man down in Washington and recently he has not been afraid to use that power to break bad with players on both sides of the aisle.

Not only did Alexander vote with Democrats and several Republicans to override a Presidential veto on the farm bill he also moved yesterday to block a deal struck by Democratic Leader Harry Reid and the administration to move several executive branch nominations forward.

Alexander stood in the way because of Reid’s refusal to approve William Graves for another term on the Tennessee Valley Authority Board:

Reid and the White House hatched a last-minute deal for the Senate to confirm Steve Preston as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, along with several nominees to the Institute of Peace, military officeholders, undersecretaries and ambassadors. The deal appeared to be headed for a unanimous consent agreement as the Senate prepared for the recess, but it fell apart after a Republican Senator objected to the deal.

Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) blocked the package of nominations from advancing because Reid continues to object to his pick for the Tennessee Valley Authority board. Alexander has pressed Reid to approve William Graves for another term on TVA, but the Majority Leader has said no, wanting Democratic representation on the board.

An Alexander spokesman said, “Senator Reid has been playing politics with nominees like Bishop Graves for far too long and that has got to stop. This is no small matter to Senator Alexander, and it’s astonishing that the Democratic Leader doesn’t recognize that fact after the conversations and letters exchanged by the two senators these past weeks and months.

“Reid has chosen an Institute of Peace nominee over the Secretary of Housing in the middle of a housing slump. That’s not the sort of leadership people expect from Congress,” the spokesman added.

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Tags: Bishop Graves, Harry Reid, race card, Roll Call, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, William Graves