600-Member National Organization Repudiates Reckless Rumors

WASHINGTON, D.C. // JULY 9, 2013 // Today, the 600-plus member Coalition for a Democratic Workplace issued the following statement on behalf of chairman Geoffrey Burr in response to a New York Times report that certain Senators may attempt to weaken current filibuster rules to make it easier to place controversial political nominees in federal government jobs:

“Multiple federal courts of appeal have rebuffed the President’s efforts to pack federal agencies by violating the Constitutional separation of powers when the administration made illegal recess appointments. Having been beaten back in Court, the President’s allies appear to be taking the next egregious step of eroding the body’s long-held rules, all in the name of scoring political payback points for supporters. This is government as carried out by hook or by crook.”

Burr added, “It’s ironic that some Senators would defend changing long-held rules to make the appointment process less political because setting up rules to allow confirmation by just 51 votes is a pathway to more partisans in positions of power. In this case, a rule change’s unintended consequence would be exactly what its proponents claim to remedy.”

Burr continued, “If this is a trial balloon, it’s going to have a very short life in the air. Business leaders, employees, and organizations of all political and ideological views are quietly recognizing that rules are meant to work regardless of who’s in power. If this fight drags on, those organizations won’t be quiet much longer.”