Former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle and former Republican Sen. Trent Lott wrote an e-mail in 2008 to Clinton operative John Podesta where the senators pressed Podesta to push then President-elect Obama to release a list of cabinet members, possibly before Inauguration Day.
“From our perspective as former Majority Leaders, we believe the Senate can perform a vital service to the American people by working in cooperation with the President-elect to ensure that his core security team is in place immediately after Inauguration Day,” the senators claim.
They promise that if presidential campaigns can come up with a list, “the committees of the Senate will consider, and the Senate leaders will schedule a vote – as soon as possible after Inauguration Day.”
Daschle and Lott note that this coordinated effort “unprecedented timetable,” the President-elect would need to provide a list of names of his appointees so that the Senate could “conduct a thorough, but swift, review.”
The senators say that doing this would “insulate the American people from the dangers of a sluggish appointments process.” The American people, in the opinion of the senators, do not have a strong enough constitution to weather the typical round of presidential cabinet appointments.
Podesta replies to the e-mail thread, saying, “I’m all for rapid confirmations,” adding that he believes confirming the people they want “won’t be a problem for our side if we get our job done.”
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