US Senate blocks Obama’s civil rights nominee

Senate blocks Debo Adegbile to lead DOJ's civil rights division, 47 to 52. 1st defeat of Obama pick under new procedures.

US Senate on Wednesday, filibustered President Obama’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division, with seven Democrats joining Republicans in arguing his past history defending a convicted cop-killer made him the wrong man for the job.

Debo P. Adegbile, who as a lawyer for the NAACP filed a brief arguing that former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal’s murder trial was tainted by racism, is a major blow to Mr. Obama.


 It comes even after Democrats changed the rules last year to overcome filibusters with just 50 votes — but on Wednesday Majority Leader Harry Reid couldn’t even muster all of his own troops.

A furious Mr. Reid hinted that Republicans’ opposition was based on racism, pointing to to several other black nominees that GOP senators had opposed earlier. But in the case of Mr. Adegbile, his defense of Abu-Jamal was too much for even some Democrats.

Senate blocked Mr. Adegbile on a 47-52 vote, with eight Democrats voting along with Republicans for the filibuster.

One of those was Mr. Reid, who had to change to vote for the filibuster in order to be able to ask for an eventual re-vote — which he did.
Signifying the heft of the vote, Vice President Joseph R. Biden was in the chair.