Senate Confirms 27 Obama Nominees

Critics accuse GOP of 'blinking'

By Emily Rauhala, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 12, 2010 7:01 AM CST

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Senate Confirms 27 Obama Nominees — Critics say Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell bowed 'blinked' after President Obama threatened to use recess appointments to clear the confirmation logjam. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Twenty-seven Obama nominees were confirmed last night following a tense exchange between the president and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Critics accused McConnell and the GOP of "blinking" in the face of the president's threat to make recess appointments over the President's Day break. Republicans denied the claim, saying the move simply shows they are not obstructionist. "We cleared something like 35 nominees before the last recess, too," an aide tells Politico. "This isn’t because anyone blinked."

(More Senate confirmation hearings stories.)

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