The chair of the Texas Democratic House delegation wants to make clear he didn’t buckle to pressure from the state’s Republican senators when he agreed to a compromise candidate for the Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney post.
There was “no ‘retreat’ whatsoever,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said in a statement emailed to us today.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (gov)
We reported last week that Doggett supported President Obama’s decision to nominate San Antonio-based lawyer Michael McCrum for the post.
McCrum was also recommended in another list of U.S. Attorney candidates sent to the White House by Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, who refuse to cede control of the nomination process just because a Democrat now holds the White House.
There were “tense consultations” between Doggett and the senators on the Western District U.S. Attorney pick, The Austin American-Statesman reported. Doggett’s top choice was Travis County Attorney David Escamilla, who is from his Austin home base. But McCrum emerged as the consensus pick. Cornyn, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, has vowed to block any U.S. Attorney pick that didn’t pass through a screening committee set up earlier this year by the Republicans.
In an interview with Main Justice last June, Doggett insisted the Democratic delegation would have the final say on recommendations to the White House.
But given that the Republican senators’ views are clearly carrying weight, we added in our story last week: “It would appear that Doggett has had to retreat somewhat from his tough talk earlier in the year.” That’s the sentence that Doggett is objecting to. (We did make an effort to get Doggett’s views last week, but his spokeswoman didn’t have much to tell us).
Okay, so now we have Doggett’s response. Here is his full statement:
Regarding Main Justice’s Friday story titled ‘Dueling Lists,’ I want to make one thing clear: there has been no “retreat” whatsoever.
President Obama is fully honoring his previous public commitment that no Texas federal judge, attorney, or marshal will be nominated without the Texas Democratic Delegation’s support. As to U.S. Attorney for Western District, my personal first choice was our outstanding Travis County Attorney David Escamilla. But, at my Democratic colleagues’ request, I agreed to submit his name simultaneously with others, without prioritization, including LULAC-supported Michael McCrum. Without full confidence in McCrum, I would not have recommended him.
The Texas Democratic Delegation does not make recommendations to the Senators.
The Senators can, of course, decide whether they want to attempt to block any of these well-qualified individuals.
