Senate Democrats Causing Historically Slow Nomination Process
‘If our Democratic colleagues keep up this current rate of obstruction, only allowing about one confirmation every three-and-a-half days, it will take the Senate almost 11-and-a-half years to confirm the remaining presidential appointments that must come before us… I again ask the Democratic Leader and his party to consider the consequences of their actions, and chart a different path. That’s the best outcome for the country and for the Senate.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the continued obstruction by Senate Democrats in the confirmation of the president’s nominees:
“Yesterday I shared some data reflecting the historic level of obstruction Senate Democrats have displayed when it comes to confirming this president’s nominees.
“I noted that the opposition they’ve shown to these nominees most of the time seems to have little to do with the nominees themselves, nor whether or not Democrats even support them — in many cases, our Democratic colleagues actually do support the nominees. Take the nominee before us today for U.S. District Judge in Idaho. He was reported out of committee by voice vote. Every single Democrat then voted for cloture on his nomination. Yet, Democrats still chose to throw up procedural hurdles.
“In fact, Senate Democrats have continuously forced procedural hurdles — more than 30 times, compared to only 8 cloture votes Republicans required on nominees at this point in President Obama’s Administration. They’re bound and determined to impede the president from making appointments, and they’re willing to go to increasingly absurd lengths to further that goal — like requiring 30 hours of debate time on a non-controversial nominee after having just voted unanimously that debate on this nomination was unnecessary.
“If our Democratic colleagues keep up this current rate of obstruction, only allowing about one confirmation every three-and-a-half days, it will take the Senate almost 11-and-a-half years to confirm the remaining presidential appointments that must come before us. Let me repeat that. At this rate, it would take us nearly 11-and-a-half years to confirm the remaining presidential appointments.
“That’s why I say this to my friends across the aisle: this near-total obstruction simply cannot continue. As the Democratic Leader once said himself, ‘Who in America, doesn’t think a president Democrat or Republican, deserves his or her picks for who should run the agencies? Nobody.’ A direct quote from the Democratic Leader.
“He went on, ‘[t]he American people,’ he said, ‘deserve a functioning government, not gridlock.’ I would again ask the Democratic Leader and his party to consider the consequences of their actions, and chart a different path. That’s the best outcome for the country and for the Senate.”
Related Issues: Judicial Nominations, Senate Democrats, Nominations
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