Senate Democrats will seek Monday to limit debate on the nomination of James Cole for Deputy Attorney General.
Approval of the cloture motion, which limits debate to 30 hours, requires the support of 60 senators. Cole, who has been nominated twice for the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, has faced strong Republican opposition.
Republicans held Cole up in the full Senate for five months last year, expressing concerns about a 2002 article he authored endorsing civilian trials for terrorism suspects and his tenure as an independent monitor for insurance giant AIG, which the Federal Reserve bailed out during the 2008 financial industry crisis.
The Senate sent his nomination back to the White House when it adjourned sine die in December. But, in January, President Barack Obama put him in place through a recess appointment that expires when the current congressional session ends later this year. Obama also renominated him in January, and the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed him along a party-line vote in March.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Cole “has been held up for far too long.”
“I regret that the Majority Leader has been required to file cloture,” Leahy said in a statement. “Especially given these times and our country’s security needs, the Senate should proceed to vote and confirm the Deputy Attorney General.”
