ABOVE: Sen. Chuck Schumer. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The LGBTQ Victory Institute issued a letter Dec. 16 urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to move for a vote on 11 LGBTQ nominees for key posts in the Biden administration, the group told the Washington Blade.
The letter notes that several of these appointments have languished before the Senate and its committees for more than 100 days since they were first announced by the White House, underscoring the urgency for lawmakers to take action in the waning days before the new Congress is seated in January.
Victory Institute Senior Manager for Presidential Appointments Jonathan Dromgoole told the Blade that the group will continue advocating on behalf of the candidates if Congress fails to approve them by the year’s end — in which case they must be re-nominated by President Joe Biden to begin the approvals process anew.
Dromgoole echoed the praise in the Victory Institute’s letter for the strides that Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and pro-LGBTQ legislators in the Senate have made to nominate and approve a record number of LGBTQ candidates to serve in the administration, as well as their success in passing the historic Respect for Marriage Act, which was signed into law this week.
At the same time, “we’re really urging Sen. Schumer — who has the power to do this, to bring these folks up to a vote — to take action, because they’ve truly been waiting long enough,” Dromgoole said.
Confirming these nominees is essential, not just for reasons of representation and the need to include LGBTQ people in policymaking, but also for Americans more broadly, Dromgoole said. Having qualified candidates seated and serving in these key government posts will benefit everyone, perhaps especially when those positions would otherwise remain vacant, he said.
The 11 LGBTQ nominees awaiting Senate confirmation includes six jurists who were picked to fill open judgeships in U.S. federal district courts, a candidate nominated for foreign ambassadorships, and individuals who were selected for key posts at the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Federal Communications Commission.
If confirmed, Gigi Sohn, Biden’s pick for FCC commissioner, would provide the key votes necessary to pass rules and policies that have been held up for more than a year because of the agency’s bipartisan leadership structure, with voting commissioners from both parties serving under Democratic Chair Jessica Rosenworcel.
Sohn’s confirmation process has been embroiled in conflict, perhaps in large part because of Republican opposition to rules and policies that would pass with her tie-breaking votes.
Nevertheless, and especially with respect to the other 10 candidates, Dromgoole said partisan political disagreements should have nothing to do with the Senate’s deliberations. These nominees are qualified and ready to do the work, he said. “They are there to really look at the laws and interpret those laws in a nonpartisan way” on behalf of the American people.
More broadly, Dromgoole said, the 11 nominees “really do represent and give effect to the president’s mission, to make sure that the appointees look like America. And in this case, yes, we’re focused on LGBTQ individuals as part of the Victory Institute’s work. But a lot of these folks hold multiple identities that they’re able to bring into their jobs on day one.”
“And I think the timing is right with both President Biden and the pro-LGBTQ mandate that the Senate has right now, to get these folks over the finish line in these last critical weeks. So, we’re hopeful and we’re going to continue to champion them and all of our appointees as we move forward.”
The Victory Institute’s Presidential Appointments Initiative was started during the Clinton White House, during which time Dromgoole said only about 30 LGBTQ people were working in the administration.
The group claims to have had a hand in 40 percent of the LGBTQ individuals who were selected and approved for key roles in the Biden-Harris administration — the most inclusive to-date, with 15 percent identifying as LGBTQ.
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