Jon Kyl Allows Treasury Nominees to go Through

Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl has finally lifted his block of several Obama US Treasury Department appointees this past week.  Many believed his doing so was a result of online gambling prohibition (the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act), for which he was a co-author, being delayed in terms of policy enforcement.  The UIGEA has been law since October 2006.

Kyl's hold ended this week and the three key nominees had their appointments confirmed by the Senate.

Kyl and Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby have come under attack for blocking key nominees for "personal reasons".

Democrats have long attacked Republicans for what they call rampant obstructionism, and the hold on nominees to win home-state spending gave Democrats an easy target to make their point, GovernmentExecutive.com points out.

Jon Kyl has long been in opposition of online gambling, calling it the "Crack Cocaine" of gambling.

Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com