Reid Urges Recess Appointments - NYTimes.com Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Friday that he would recommend that President Obama appoint scores of nonjudicial nominees during Congressional recesses, to counter Republican filibusters of judicial nominees. Judges are "being held up out of spite," said Mr. Reid on the floor of the Senate, concerning the 90 nominees the administration have made that are awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. "Nominees on the executive calendar have been pending an average of three months, waiting for the Senate to act," he said. The Senate can act on these as we have done in years past, like that. Mr. Reid added, " If we don't have some significant action during the next work period, I am going to ask the president - I mean, I can ask if I want to, and he doesn't have to respond affirmatively - but I'm going to ask him to appoint them all." Among those pending are nominees for the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service; the deputy secretary for the Commerce Department; and the deputy secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Reid said, however, that he would not ask the president to bypass the Senate on judicial nominees - whose appointments have long been a flashpoint for both parties - because he believed the Senate should vote on their confirmation. Republicans were outraged over the Christmas recess when Mr. Obama appointed Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and filled vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. Some vowed to hold up future appointments as a result. "We are not going to publicly speculate about future recess appointments," Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, said in response to Mr. Reid's statement . But Senate Republicans have not been shy about their determination to block the president's nominees and policy priorities. It is becoming more and more apparent that Republican obstructionism is an overtly political maneuver to thwart the president's agenda. These posts are important to fill, these individuals are exceptionally well qualified, and we will push for their confirmations.