Pelosi Spokesman Tells Washington Post that Jefferson Floor Vote Will Set ‘Dangerous Precedent’

ABC News’ Jake Whitman Reports: Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly is warning that if House Republicans follow through on their threat to force a floor vote on Rep. William Jefferson’s, D-La., appointment to the Homeland Security Committee, it would set a "dangerous precedent," reports Lyndsey Layton in today’s Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022801945.html

"A number of their own members are under investigation," Pelosi’s Daly told the Washington Post, referring to Republicans allegedly under scrutiny by the Justice Department.

House Republicans want a floor vote on the appointment of Jefferson because he is the subject of a federal bribery investigation.

The decision to put Jefferson on the Homeland Security panel was made by House Speaker Nancy Pelsoi, D-Calif. House Democrats endorsed the decision Tuesday night.

His appointment, however, must be confirmed by a vote on the House floor. "Such an action would normally be a formality," reports the Washington Post’s Layton, "but Republicans said yesterday that they would pursue a rarely used maneuver to force a recorded vote on the matter."