If the revelation that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus recommended his girlfriend to be a U.S. attorney in Montana is going to have serious repercussions for the senator who is one of the Democrats' leaders in Senate health overhaul efforts, it isn't readily apparent, at least not in the Senate.

Politico.com reports that the Republican Minority Leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, steered clear of the controversy when reporters asked him about it Saturday.

A Politico excerpt:

"I don't have any observations to make about that," McConnell told reporters when asked to comment on whether Baucus's actions were appropriate.

The story that Baucus earlier this year recommended his lady friend, Melodee Hanes, to be U.S. attorney in Montana but that she withdrew her name from consideration, was first reported by the blog Main Justice.

That McConnell didn't latch on to the ethical issues arising from Baucus' actions suggests that Senate Republicans have decided to let the media and blogs keep this particular story alive.

Or maybe the decision was to let the Republican National Committee handle it. As Politico reports, RNC Chair Michael Steele went after Baucus in a statement:

Today's report that Senator Max Baucus used his Senate office to advance a taxpayer funded appointment for his staff-member girlfriend raises a whole host of ethical questions. This issue demands the attention of the Senate Ethics Committee. They should hold a hearing to identify who was involved in this process, what they knew and when they knew it, and why Senator Baucus put his personal needs above those of the people of Montana.

 

Baucus position appears to be that he didn't want Hanes' professional possibilities to be harmed by their relationship. So he recommended her only after he submitted her name among others to a third party — a Montana lawyer — he deemed as sufficiently independent as to be swayed by only her resume.

Another excerpt from Politico.com with a statement Baucus issued Saturday:

Mel and I have a wonderful relationship. We are living together and enjoying spending time with each other and our families. I'm as happy as I've ever been.

Mel and I were both separated from our former spouses when we got together. It wasn't an "affair." As we grew closer and things progressed, we knew it was time to begin the process of Mel transitioning out of my Senate office.

As a highly qualified prosecutor who tried more than 100 jury trials and as a former law professor, Mel would have been an excellent U.S. Attorney for Montana. She is widely regarded as an expert in child abuse prosecution. I for one did not want her relationship with me to disqualify her from applying for the position. I appointed an independent, third-party reviewer and established an open and fair process that resulted in 3 names being sent, unranked, to the White House for consideration.

But, in the end, we decided it would be best for Mel to withdraw her name from consideration.

Baucus's was obviously aware of the ethical dimensions of his recommendation of his girlfriend; that's why he named an independent reviewer to consider the three names he submitted, his girlfriend's among them.

But while this arrangement satisfied his smell test, many people will still see the recommendation as an ethical lapse since it has the appearance of a conflict of interest.

And appearances matter, especially when the person in question chairs the Senate Finance Committee, among Capitol Hill's most powerful panels because of the sway the committee holds over vast parts of the American economy because of its role overseeing the nation's tax code and large parts of the nation's health-care system such as Medicare.

It is among the most lobbied committees in Congress. That would seem to argue that its chairman bend over backwards to avoid conflicts or even the appearance of conflicts. But that isn't what happened in this case.

Baucus benefiting his girlfriend by recommending her to President Barack Obama for a plum government job may or may not end up hurting his effectiveness as a leader on Democratic efforts to pass their health care overhaul. But it certainly won't do much to improve the public's low estimation of Congress.