Once Again, Dawn Johnsen is Nominated to Top DOJ Post

On January 20, President Obama renominated Dawn Johnsen to head the Department of Justices Office of Legal Counsel.  Johnsen was first nominated in February 2009.  But, despite the Democrats 60 seat majority in the Senate, the full Senate failed to act on her nomination and it was returned to the President on December 24, 2009.

The Senate may have failed to act on Johnsens nomination in part because of her work for the pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America.  Johnsen is the former Legal Director for NARAL and an outspoken abortion advocate.   She also has been criticized for her position on national security issues. 

On January 13, 2010, the seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy asking for a second hearing on Johnsens nomination, stating, [b]ased on her statements, it is unclear whether Ms. Johnsen would be able to set aside her personal biases and provide the type of objective, yet aggressive, constitutional legal advice the President will need to effectively combat the continued terror threat.  You can read the full letter here.

Our legal analysis of Johnsens nomination is posted here.

In addition to Johnsen, President Obama also renominated two other Department of Justice nominees whose nominations had been returnedChristopher Schroeder to head the Office of Legal Policy, and Mary Smith to head the Tax Division.  He also renominated Louis Butler and Edward Chen, whose nominations to federal district court judgeships in Wisconsin and California had been returned.  Like Johnsen, these nominees had been voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and were waiting final confirmation on the Senate floor. 

The fact is that Senator Leahy should heed the request for a second hearing on Johnsens nomination.  All members of the Senate should carefully examine her record and the records of these other nominees.  

We will continue to monitor these and other nominations.