WASHINGTON – Senate leaders are discussing several deals that would move stalled Bush administration nominees to a vote by the full Senate, including that of Michael Fryzel, a Chicago lawyer nominated for NCUA Chairman.
While Fryzel’s nomination has yet to be endorsed by the Senate Banking Committee, which reviewed it Tuesday with nine other Bush nominees, Democratic leaders who control the Senate have been holding up hundreds of federal appointments such as Fryzel’s because of the approaching final days of the administration. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has said he will bring few nominations to a vote that will endure after the Bush administration ends.
But Capitol Hill sources said some nominations, even Republicans, may be brought to a vote in conjunction with getting some Democrats nominated by Bush confirmed. John Magill, chief lobbyist for CUNA, on Wednesday said he believes the Fryzel nomination, which would seat a Republican for five years, may be among those.
Under one scenario, Senate Democrats could agree to put the NCUA nomination to a vote in exchange for Republican pledges to vote for two of the Democratic candidates for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which were reviewed alongside Fryzel Tuesday. “My hope is that Fryzel would be part of that,” Magill told The Credit Union Journal yesterday.
One other source familiar with the process acknowledged the possibility of a Fryzel deal, but expressed caution, saying several other possible deals are being discussed.
Fryzel would succeed current NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson, whose six-year term on the three-member panel expired last August. That way, Fryzel would retain a Republican majority on the Board, even after Republican President Bush’s term expires.
The next step in the process is for the Banking Committee to vote whether to endorse Fryzel, who is expected to get the panel’s backing.
