Democrats Continue to Filibuster Those They Support

Senate Democrats continue to force cloture votes on President Trump’s nominees that they support! When cloture is invoked, it ends filibusters. However, it still allows a “legislative day” of delay to “invoke” and allows up to 30 additional hours of debate. In other words each time Democrats force a cloture vote, they delay the Senate from working on the problems of the country or confirming the people who are nominated to work for the country.

It is important to note this is not an effort to defeat a nominee.  It is an effort to undermine and delay the Senate and hurt the government.  As Senator Mitch McConnell described yesterday:

Six well-qualified nominees are currently before the Senate. They’re awaiting the full consideration they clearly deserve. Their nominations have been vetted. Their expertise is well-known. Their positions sit empty, waiting to be filled. The American people are waiting for their president to have his full team, and for their federal government to be appropriately staffed.

“Now, if last evening’s vote to advance Claria Horn Boom’s district court nomination were any indication, we’d be in for a productive week. Ninety-six of our colleagues voted in support. Ninety-six. With such broad bipartisan support, you might think that filing cloture should not have been necessary in the first place. With nominees as uncontroversial as these, you might think the Senate should roll quickly through them and move on to other business.

“But unfortunately, for more than a year now, our Democratic friends used the partisan playbook to delay and obstruct even the least-controversial nominees. So unless we can reach the kind of bipartisan agreement that was once the norm, and process noncontroversial nominees more promptly, we’re left with no choice but to proceed the hard way. And that’s just what we’ve done. Facing historic obstruction, Republicans have confirmed ambitious reformers to crucial posts where fresh ideas were long overdue.

Leader McConnell is not letting the Democrats get away with it.  He is keeping the Senate in session this week until six well qualified nominees are confirmed.  Typical of these nominees is Patrick Pizzella, who has been waiting since June 20, 2017, to be confirmed as the Deputy Secretary of Labor.  Leader McConnell added: 

Now, I’ve already stated the Senate will remain in session as long as it takes to clear this slate of nominees. Following the confirmation of Ms. Boom, we’ll move to consideration of John Ring to serve on the National Labor Relations Board.  After Mr. Ring come nominees to the Department of Labor, the EPA, and two more nominees to fill district court vacancies. All vetted. All qualified. All sitting here in the Senate.

Shame on Senate Democrats and thank you Leader McConnell for your commitment to confirm nominees.