Monday's Starting Lineup
Good Monday morning. What a bummer of a way to start the week.
Here's today's Starting Lineup, previewing the people who will make a difference in politics this week:
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: The longest-serving member of Congress in American history has died at the age of 92. Byrd passed away early this morning after a brief illness. He had serious health problems in recent years, and he had been sent to the hospital for what his staff initially thought was heat exhaustion.
Byrd was a champion of WV, using his long-time perch on the Senate Appropriations Committee to steer billions of dollars back to his home state. He also served as the unofficial conscience of the Senate, advocating its equality with the executive branch; he authored a 4-volume set of books on the history of the Senate and its greatest speeches.
His passing will leave a hole in the upper chamber that won't easily be filled. But expect much of this week, which was supposed to be taken up with campaign finance and financial regulatory reform legislation, to be dedicated instead to tributes to Byrd's long life and unparalleled career. For obituaries of Byrd, check out the New York Times, Washington Post, Charleston Daily Mail, AP, Politico, Roll Call and The Hill.
ELENA KAGAN: Business marches on, and today Solicitor General Kagan is scheduled to head to Capitol Hill to kick off her confirmation hearings. Kagan, nominated May 10, has been quietly preparing for her hearings while GOPers comb through reams of documents related to her tenure in the Clinton admin and as dean of Harvard Law School.
Don't be surprised if Kagan's nomination is put off an extra day or 2, given Sen. Byrd's passing. But once she does make her debut, Kagan's confirmation process looks likely to become the new model for future WH appointments -- her roll-out has been decidedly boring. GOPers will point to her decision to support a ban on military recruiters through Harvard's official channels, and to her judicial heroes, when they cite their objections. Those don't even rise to the level of Sonia Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comments.
For a WH that's had problems with some of its nominees -- it took 3 tries to get an acceptable TSA chief -- the lack of flash surrounding Kagan's hearings must be a welcome respite. She looks like a standard left-leaning vote on the Supreme Court, but she won't give anyone the excuse to launch an all-out filibuster. Pres. Obama can only hope there will be more nominees like Kagan -- easily confirmable, not a lot of stress -- to come.
RNC CHAIR MICHAEL STEELE: It's below the radar, but Steele today will preside over a key RNC panel that will finalize rules aimed at streamlining the WH'12 nomination process.
The panel has reached the outlines of a deal -- most notably, the nominating process will begin with early contests in Feb., rather than Jan., to avoid campaigning over the holidays. The "window," or time period during which states not named IA, NH, SC and NV can hold their nominating contests, will open in March.
Long-time RNC members like NJ national committeeman David Norcross and others have been working closely with their counterparts at the DNC, most prominently Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chair James Roosevelt, to hammer out the deal. Both parties working together means they have the ability to influence each state, and the joint power to punish states that don't follow the rules.
The RNC's proposal will be debated at the party's summer meeting next month. Dems will vote on their own proposal later this year.