Pro-animal White House appointee is at last confirmed

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–The U.S. Senate on September 10, 2009
confirmed the appointment of legal scholar Cass Sunstein to head the
Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs, one of the most
influential non-cabinet positions in the Barack Obama
administration. Repeatedly denounced as a would-be
“czar” by Fox network commentator Glenn Beck, Sunstein had become
one of Obama’s most controversial appointees, largely for views
about animal rights. Sunstein has argued for expanding the ability
of humans to file lawsuits on behalf of animals, and has called
sport hunting morally unjustifiable.

Sunstein and Martha C. Nussbaum in 2004 co-edited the
anthology Animal Rights: Current Debates & New Directions. The
338-page volume includes contributions by many prominent pro-animal
legal thinkers and philosophers. Wrote Sunstein in the preface, “It
would not be a gross exaggeration to say that federal and state laws
now guarantee a robust set of animal rights,” albeit rights not yet
effectively defended by the courts.