Robert D. Lenhard

Robert D. Lenhard, of Maryland, was nominated February 10, 2006, by President George W. Bush to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Lenhard would replace Danny Lee McDonald, whose term has expired.

Lenhard was appointed to the FEC January 4, 2006, in a recess appointment by President Bush.

Profile
When Lenhard was nominated December 16, 2005, by President Bush, he was serving as Associate General Counsel "for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO. He previously served as an Associate with Kirschner, Weinberg & Dempsey. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lenhard worked for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, AFL-CIO. He received his bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and his JD from the University of California, Los Angeles." 

Lenhard "was part of a legal team that challenged the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law." 

"As a lawyer, Lenhard wasn't able to overturn McCain-Feingold before it took effect, but, as an FEC commissioner, he'll be able to do the next best thing and try to gut it," Arianna Huffington wrote December 18, 2005. "But that's not why I'm obsessing (if I got worked up every time Bush picked a fox to guard a government henhouse, I'd never get anything done!). No, the thing that has my mental wheels in overdrive is the fact that Lenhard is the husband of Viveca Novak -- the Time Magazine journalist whose loose lips may end up saving Karl Rove from joining Scooter Libby on Indictment Row."

SourceWatch Resources

 * Bush administration
 * Bush administration cronyism and incompetence