WASHINGTON & WALL STREET: WATT NOMINATION LATEST FIASCO FOR VALERIE JARRETT

Last week, the Democrat controlled Senate failed to muster 60 votes to confirm the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to be the new, permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The White House selected Watt to be the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a cynical effort to placate the Congressional Black Caucus, but in truth the Obama Administration never made any significant effort to get Watt confirmed.

Selecting Watt was reportedly the big idea of Valerie Bowman Jarrett, a Senior Advisor to President Obama. As with most of the presidential appointments proposed by Jarrett, the Watt nomination received zero attention from the White House after it was announced. Barack Obama’s record of winning Senate approval for nominees has been abysmal, in part because of the incompetence of supposed advisers such as the Iranian-born Jarrett.

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