Shelby blocks appointment of heads of Customs, TSA and Food Safety because Obama shot down his earmarks

TPM reports that Alabama Senator Richard Shelby has put a hold on all of Obama's remaining executive branch nominations. That means that, under Senate rules, it will take 60 votes for cloture in order to get an up-or-down vote on confirmation. In practical terms, this means that the nation will go without:

• a head of food safety at the USDA
• the head of the office of legal counsel for the Department of Justice (their top internal lawyer)
• the top lawyer for the Department of Labor
• the head of Customs/Border Protection
• the head of the TSA
• the head of the US Agency for International Development
• about 200 other key positions

Now, why is it that Shelby is taking this unprecedented step? He's miffed that the Obama administration hasn't moved on a $40 billion contract to build planes in Alabama and a $45 million FBI center in Alabama.

I think that, when it's possible for one senator, acting alone (although with the tacit support of his party, without which the Dems could get 60 votes to move regardless of Shelby's hold), to gum up the works this badly because he's having a snit-fit about not getting some planes, folks in the Senate would move to clean up their rules. The nation's business needs to get done, and presidents need to be able to appoint people to staff key positions. It's a real problem that we don't have someone running the TSA or Border Patrol, or in charge of food safety. American lives are put in danger when those agencies don't operate properly. Shelby's move endangers Americans (even Alabamans!) and should not be tolerated.