New hurdles arise in Leavitt's EPA bid

WASHINGTON — As a Senate committee finally voted 16-2 Wednesday to endorse Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Democrats quickly built more and higher hurdles for him to clear in the full Senate.

Meanwhile, several Republicans say that because of the Democrats' maneuvers, President Bush could choose to make Leavitt a "recess appointee," without Senate confirmation � perhaps next month.

Leavitt said Wednesday in Utah that he has had no discussions with the White House about such an appointment.

"I don't have any precise expectation about what will happen" in the full Senate, the governor said. "I am committed to the idea that if the Senate confirms me, I will serve in Washington. Until then, I will continue to serve here as governor."

Two more senators — Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. — placed "holds" Wednesday on Leavitt's nomination. Holds are pledges to filibuster to prevent a final vote on him unless he resolves their concerns. Leavitt now faces a total of six such tough-to-quash holds.

While most are protests against President Bush's environmental policies or seek pledges for various action, Lautenberg's new hold attacks Leavitt's personal record. "Gov. Leavitt has repeatedly refused to enforce our nation's environmental laws, damaging Utah's environment so corporate polluters can make millions," he said.

Still, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., predicted Leavitt will clear all obstacles and be confirmed soon.

"I certainly believe that those individuals with holds — most of whom are running for president — will not allow cheap politics to cheapen a man of this quality," he told the Deseret Morning News.

"There is no reason this man is not going to be confirmed."

Filibusters against nominees can be stopped with a three-fifths vote. However, Republicans control only 51 of the Senate's 100 votes, and they need 60 to stop filibusters.

If Bush chooses instead to wait for a recess in Congress to make Leavitt a "recess appointee," Leavitt could serve for a year without confirmation, which would take him to near the end of Bush's current term.

However, the Senate usually frowns upon such action as evading its right to consent, which could make permanent confirmation for Leavitt difficult to impossible if Bush wins a second term.

The delays, however, have raised the possibility of such a recess appointment.

Two weeks ago, Democrats staged a first-in-history boycott of Inhofe's committee to prevent achieving a legal quorum needed to vote on Leavitt. Since then, Leavitt gave more complete responses to written questions that Democrats complained he had not answered sufficiently.

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