[JURIST] US President George W. Bush submitted three new nominations [press release] for the Federal Elections Commissions (FEC) [official website] to the Senate Tuesday in an effort to break a deadlock which has left the FEC without a quorum to conduct business during a presidential election year. The new nominees include former legislative director for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) Cynthia L. Bauerly; former National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) [official website] counsel Donald F. McGahn; and former White House official Caroline C. Hunter.

Also Tuesday, Bush withdrew the nomination of current FEC Chairman David Mason [official profile], but refused to withdraw the nomination of current FEC Commissioner Hans von Spakovsky [SourceWatch profile]. Von Spakovsky faces tough Democratic objections over his record on voting rights issues during his tenure at the US Department of Justice [official website]. AP has more.