"Obama appointees may launch 2014 policy blitz"

[applegrove]

Obama appointees may launch 2014 policy blitz

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and MANU RAJU

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/obama-appointees-2014-policy-101397.html?hp=l1

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New people headed into their jobs for the new year will handle everything from Middle East diplomacy to immigration, taxes, homeland security, housing and military sexual assault. With Congress unlikely to move much of the president’s domestic agenda, the appointees will play a big part in Obama’s 2014 executive and regulatory actions aimed at helping him build out a domestic and foreign policy legacy.

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Wrapping up business for the year Friday, the Senate easily confirmed John Koskinen to head the Internal Revenue Service and installed a new deputy administrator at the Department of Homeland Security. Janet Yellen, the nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, also cleared a key procedural hurdle and is expected to be confirmed in early January.

(WATCH: Harry Reid on bipartisanship, looking ahead to 2014)

Since Reid invoked the “nuclear option” — to allow a majority of senators to break a filibuster, rather than a supermajority of 60 — Democrats have successfully confirmed nine Obama executive branch appointees, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, a new housing financing agency chief and senior leaders at the State and Defense departments. More than 235 pending Obama picks, including No. 2 deputies at the Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs departments, as well as judicial nominees, will now need to be renominated by the White House but confirmation is virtually ensured for most under the new filibuster rules.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) denied that the nuclear option was employed to help the administration gear up for a push on a more aggressive regulatory agenda, saying instead it was simply to fill up key government posts.



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