Unconfirmed After 11 Months, EEOC Nominee Says No Thanks

By Michael A. Fletcher

Monday, August 6, 2007; Page A15

D avid Palmer, whose nomination to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had languished for nearly a year, withdrew his name over the weekend, bitterly complaining that partisanship in the confirmation process has gotten out of control.

President Bush nominated the 19-year Justice Department employee last September to head the EEOC, tasked with policing employment discrimination. But Palmer's confirmation stalled amid allegations that he has been ineffective in his current job, as chief of the Employee Litigation Section of the department's Civil Rights Division.