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Dark_Falcon3/21/2014 8:13:10 am PDT

White House pauses on Surgeon General pick, recalibrating strategy (VIDEO)

Even after passing a Senate committee, the President’s pick for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, is stalling out over his comments in the past concerning gun control.

“Dr. Murthy is a dynamic, entrepreneurial practitioner who had dedicated a lot of time, energy and passion to health and wellness,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday. “But after the confirmation vote of Debo Adegbile, we are recalibrating the strategy around Dr. Murthy’s floor vote.”

Adegbile had been tapped to run the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice but bipartisan opposition on the senate floor blocked that appointment earlier this month.

The White House’s comment on Murthy comes as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indefinitely put off a vote on the floor of that chamber on Murthy.

New Senate rules state that nominations simply need 51 votes in that body of lawmakers for confirmation and there are currently 55 Senate Democrats. However, as with the Adegbile vote, it could be that several Dems may cross the aisle against a candidate that has received much negative publicity for his past views on gun control.

I don’t think Murthy ends up getting confirmed. It’s not just Dems up for reelection this year, its also that Harry Reid is up in 2016. While Reid doesn’t want to vote the president’s nominee down, neither does he want to cast a vote that is going to be heavily held against him by the NRA, with which he has always taken care to avoid major conflict.

My Read: Stick a fork in Murthy’s nomination, it’s done.

BBL