Dem blocks Bush nominees for documents [View All]

<<SNIP>>
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/printer_1040108.php

Dem blocks Bush nominees for documents

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Democrat firebrand Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan is holding up several nominations the White House says are vital to the war on terror because he says he believes the Senate is being denied information it needs for oversight of that war.

Levin has put hold -- an arcane parliamentary procedure through which a single senator can stall any nomination -- three nominees: Ben Powell, tapped to be the general counsel in the office of the new director of national intelligence; Alice Fisher, awaiting confirmation as head of the Justice Department`s Criminal Division; and Eric Edelman, a career diplomat whose nomination as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy has been pending since May.

"These are critical national security positions that need to be filled soon," White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino told United Press International Monday.

In each instance, Levin remains at loggerheads with the administration over access to documents or individuals that he believes are vital for the Congress to fulfill its constitutional role in overseeing the executive`s implementation of policy.

<</SNIP>>