Bush's Controversial FEC Nominee Withdraws Name

Controversial Federal Election Commission nominee Hans von Spakovsky has withdrawn his name from consideration for the post, potentially clearing the way for a deal that could get the crippled agency back up and running.

Von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department lawyer and Republican nominee to the commission, told the White House Friday he was withdrawing his name. His candidacy has been at the center of a partisan standoff in the Senate, as Democrats strongly opposed him for his past work on voting rights issues. With four vacancies on the commission -- two from each party -- Democrats wanted to vote on each nominee separately so they could kill von Spakovsky's chances. But Republicans insisted on voting on all four nominees as a group, and neither side would budge.

The standoff has meant that the FEC only has two out of six commissioners working, not enough for a quorum necessary to take substantive action. That has threatened Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) chances of getting public funding for his general election campaign, since the FEC must sign off before the U.S. Treasury can release the funds.