By Billy House
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The same committee that stripped Florida of its presidential delegates may soon be asked to modify or undo that action.
Democratic National Committee lawyers have completed a recommendation regarding a challenge filed with the national party by a DNC committeeman from Florida, said James Roosevelt Jr.
"Nothing has happened yet," said Roosevelt, who would not discuss the legal finding. "There's been no decision yet."
But Roosevelt said he and his co-chair of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee, Alexis Herman, are reviewing the recommendation.
The two co-chairs are not required to involve other rules committee members in granting any or all parts of the challenge, or denying them.
But they also could call a meeting of the entire rules committee to decide whether to overturn their action against Florida Democrats last fall, something Roosevelt says would take at least four weeks to arrange.
Through her office, Herman declined comment on the challenge filed by Jon Ausman of Tallahassee.
DNC spokesman Luis Miranda also declined to discuss the legal recommendation from the party's staff lawyers, calling it a "completely private document."
Ausman said he does not know what the DNC lawyers have recommended.
Roosevelt's remarks came after national party chairman Howard Dean said in televised interviews Sunday that he is confident a solution to giving delegates from Florida and Michigan a voice at the party's national convention will be worked out, but likely not until summer.
Both Florida and Michigan were stripped of their convention delegates last fall by the rules committee for holding their primaries too early, in violation of the DNC's rules.
In addition, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama agreed not to campaign in Florida's Jan. 29 contest and Obama did not even appear on the Michigan ballot.
Clinton won both primaries. Now, with the national race for delegates so tight, Clinton's campaign has been pressing to count the Florida and Michigan delegates.
Obama says the results of both primaries are not a fair way to distribute delegates, since there was no campaigning involved and his name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.
In Florida's case, there are a total of 211 delegates at issue.
The battle over the delegates may not be limited to what the candidates want if Ausman's appeal to overturn the delegate ban gains traction with Roosevelt and Herman on the rules committee.
In his appeal to the DNC, Ausman says that the rules committee's decision to strip Florida of all of its delegates was too severe because party rules say that cutting the delegation by half was appropriate.
He also argues the state's 26 superdelegates - such as members of Congress and others not determined by the primary vote - cannot be banned under the DNC's own charter language from convention voting.
Ausman said he is confident the matter will be kicked to the full rules committee.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com.com or at 202 662-7673.
Democratic National Committee lawyers have completed a recommendation regarding a challenge filed with the national party by a DNC committeeman from Florida, said James Roosevelt Jr.
"Nothing has happened yet," said Roosevelt, who would not discuss the legal finding. "There's been no decision yet."
But Roosevelt said he and his co-chair of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee, Alexis Herman, are reviewing the recommendation.
The two co-chairs are not required to involve other rules committee members in granting any or all parts of the challenge, or denying them.
But they also could call a meeting of the entire rules committee to decide whether to overturn their action against Florida Democrats last fall, something Roosevelt says would take at least four weeks to arrange.
Through her office, Herman declined comment on the challenge filed by Jon Ausman of Tallahassee.
DNC spokesman Luis Miranda also declined to discuss the legal recommendation from the party's staff lawyers, calling it a "completely private document."
Ausman said he does not know what the DNC lawyers have recommended.
Roosevelt's remarks came after national party chairman Howard Dean said in televised interviews Sunday that he is confident a solution to giving delegates from Florida and Michigan a voice at the party's national convention will be worked out, but likely not until summer.
Both Florida and Michigan were stripped of their convention delegates last fall by the rules committee for holding their primaries too early, in violation of the DNC's rules.
In addition, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama agreed not to campaign in Florida's Jan. 29 contest and Obama did not even appear on the Michigan ballot.
Clinton won both primaries. Now, with the national race for delegates so tight, Clinton's campaign has been pressing to count the Florida and Michigan delegates.
Obama says the results of both primaries are not a fair way to distribute delegates, since there was no campaigning involved and his name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.
In Florida's case, there are a total of 211 delegates at issue.
The battle over the delegates may not be limited to what the candidates want if Ausman's appeal to overturn the delegate ban gains traction with Roosevelt and Herman on the rules committee.
In his appeal to the DNC, Ausman says that the rules committee's decision to strip Florida of all of its delegates was too severe because party rules say that cutting the delegation by half was appropriate.
He also argues the state's 26 superdelegates - such as members of Congress and others not determined by the primary vote - cannot be banned under the DNC's own charter language from convention voting.
Ausman said he is confident the matter will be kicked to the full rules committee.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com.com or at 202 662-7673.