According to the Federal Times, the Dudley nomination may be indefinitely on hold: The nomination of President Bush’s controversial pick to head the government’s regulatory policy office is dead, according to a leading Republican senator. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the committee considering the nomination, said she decided not to bring the nomination of Susan Dudley to a vote this month by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. She said she did this because of the lack of time remaining in this Congress and opposition to Dudley’s nomination from Democrats. “It is pointless to proceed to a markup when the nomination isn’t going anywhere,” Collins, who supported Dudley, told Federal Times on Dec. 6. “The president could send the nomination up again next year, but it’s clear that it would be not a good use of the committee’s time.” Great work to all those who took action against Dudley! We'll let you know if any further developments occur, but for now it looks like the coast is clear.