Earth Equity News

Sen. Landrieu Blocks Approval of White House Budget Director As Protest Against Offshore Drilling Moratorium. Reuters, 9/28/10. "President Barack Obama's pick for budget chief has been blocked in the U.S. Senate by a member of his own party to protest the administration's ban on offshore oil drilling. The action by Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat from Louisiana, means the Senate will not be able to approve Jack Lew as White House budget chief until at least mid-November, when it returns from a six-week break. Obama could temporarily appoint Lew to head the Office of Management and Budget while the Senate is out of town, which would help the administration as it tries to work out a budget for the fiscal year that starts October 1, 2011. Lew, who also headed the office under President Bill Clinton, would require Senate approval to remain on the job beyond January 2012. In a statement, Landrieu said she blocked the appointment to protest the offshore drilling ban, which the administration imposed in the wake of BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."