AP offers this report, which begins: “The White House nominated a senior Republican Senate aide Thursday to fill a seat on the Federal Election Commission, replacing a nominee who withdrew in the face of Democratic opposition.
The new nominee, Matthew S. Petersen, is the Republican chief counsel on the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. The White House announcement came on the same day that the Rules committee sent three other FEC candidates to the Senate for a vote.”
Roll Call adds this quote from Howard Gantman, spokesman for the Rules Committee: “‘Once we get the official nomination and the accompanying clearance information, we will seek to expedite this nomination,’ he added. ‘In the meantime, we would hope that the minority would allow the other nominations to be approved by the Senate so we can have the FEC up and running again.'”