Over the holidays, there was much liberal speculation over whether President Obama would renominate Dawn Johnsen to the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. During the Bush administration, the OLC basically operated as a rubber stamp for the worst of the Bush administration's lawlessness -- something Johnsen roundly criticized. The OLC is supposed to act as the first line of defense against executive overreach, not an enabler of abuses of power. For taking that viewpoint, her nomination had essentially been held up in the Senate.
Over at Marcy Wheeler's blog, bmaz asked, "Why Did Obama Kill The Dawn Johnsen Nomination?" speculating that the Obama administration didn't want a vocal critic of some of the policies the Obama administration ultimately decided to pursue in the OLC. Paul Rosenberg suggested the Obama administration didn't want her because she might "upset the applecart."
Yesterday, Sam Stein reported that Johnsen has been renominated, meaning her nomination is, in fact, no longer dead. But there are at least two conclusions to be drawn here. One, there is no secret conspiracy organized by Rahm Emanuel to prevent Johnsen from being confirmed. Two, Johnsen cannot single-handedly right the direction the administration has taken on civil liberties and human rights issues.
"I think if people are pinning their hopes on Dawn Johnsen pressuring the Obama administration to go to 'charge-or-release' for Guantanamo detainees they are mistaken,” said Ken Gude, a human rights expert at the Center for American Progress. “But I think overall having Dawn at OLC is far better for [human rights groups] than not having her in there.”
"The only person who could change the policy at this point is the president," Gude added.
-- A. Serwer
