Democrats have been wasting time for the last two years in the Senate. Instead of helping transition the government to a new President they’ve been doing everything they can to prevent that. The Senate Republicans have said enough.
This week the US Senate changed the rules. Nothing radical. In fact, it’s the rule as it has been for most of the history of the body. A simple up or down vote on all presidential appointees. That’s not how things have gone since Mr. Trump took office.
While the Democrats were no longer able to use their large minority to filibuster nominees to the Cabinet and other senior-level positions requiring Senate confirmation, they were able to slow things down dramatically.
By objecting to expedited votes on nominees, Democrats were able to force the Republican majority to waste 30 hours of floor time on debate over even the most noncontroversial and unobjectionable nominees for often obscure positions.
We’ve witnessed the high-profile lynching of judicial nominees like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. But Democrats are obstructing almost every appointment out of spite. Republicans played along for too long.
There was seldom any real debate during these wasted sessions. Often the Senate floor was silent as time was needlessly wasted.
In creating what was essentially a new hurdle, Democrats ensured many nominees would never get a vote. Senate Republicans understandably used precious floor time to get judges confirmed for lifetime appointments, rather than focusing on shorter-term presidential appointees to executive branch agencies.
Local Noise
Make note of any Shaheen/Hassan press updates about this change. I’d be interested in whether they dare act offended by a procedural change back to that which has dominated the history of the Senate. Whining. We’re looking for any whining.
And I’ll be looking forward to updates on how the Senate has finally appointed an ambassador to the Bahamas. Or, more importantly, an assistant undersecretary of State to Southeast Asia. The person who helps coordinate policy with countries like China – the folks who stole all of Hillary’s emails in real time and supplied the spy who drove Democrat Sen. Feinstein around for a few decades.
| Fox News
