Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., on Tuesday announced the release of holds on almost all pending Obama administration nominees but is leaving holds directly related to the Air Force's upcoming aerial refueling tanker request for proposals, according to a report on The Hill's Blog Briefing Room.



Last week, Shelby put holds on all Obama nominees before the Senate, holding up more than 70 nominations, in an effort to force the Pentagon to revise its proposed aerial refueling tanker request for proposals. Officials from Northrop Grumman, which would build its tanker in Alabama, have said they won't bid on the request as written because they feel it favors Boeing's smaller 767-based tanker over the Airbus A330-based entrant Northrop has proposed with Airbus parent EADS.



The senator also was unhappy with the administration's decision to hold back funding for an FBI facility in Alabama dedicated to research on explosives used by terrorists, The Hill reported, quoting Shelby spokesman Jonathan Graffeo.




I think we should send a SWAT team in and take this fucker to jail. This is a clear abuse of power.



http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/...rom=blog_last3