Meet Jeffrey Kessler

Though He Is Eminently Qualified And Uncontroversial, Democrats Have Delayed Jeffrey Kessler’s Confirmation And Still Forced A Cloture Vote

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Just look at the nomination currently before us. A textbook case study on the shameful state of the current process. Jeffrey Kessler of Virginia was first nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce in November of 2017…. Nobody opposed him on the Finance Committee…. And yet, here on the floor, inexplicably, it has still required a cloture motion to break through the obstruction and get this unobjectionable nominee – that no one voted against – a vote.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 4/03/2019)

More Than 500 Days Of Waiting For Jeffrey Kessler, Nominated To Be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance, Approved Unanimously By The Finance Committee

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member: “Mr. Chairman, I support Mr. Kessler …” (U.S. Senate Finance Committee Hearing, 6/12/2018)

The Senate Finance Committee voted 27-0 to approve Kessler’s nomination. (U.S. Senate Finance Committee Markup, 6/28/2018)

Since he was first nominated, Jeffrey Kessler has so far waited 517 days to be confirmed. (White House Press Release, 10/31/2017)

Jeffrey Kessler was first nominated to this position in November 2017. (PN1202, 115^th Congress)

He waited seven months before the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to send his nomination to the floor in June of 2018. (U.S. Senate Finance Committee Markup, 6/28/2018)

But six months later, his nomination was forced to be returned to the president at the end of the 115^th Congress with no consideration on the Senate floor. (PN1202, 115^th Congress)

He was renominated in January 2019 and the Finance Committee approved his nomination again by voice vote in February. (PN92, 116^th Congress; Senate Panel Advances Trump's Pick For Key IRS Role, The Hill, 2/05/2019)

FORMER SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R-UT), Former Senate Finance Committee Chairman: “Mr. Jeffrey Kessler [has worked] as counsel at WilmerHale over the past 10 years. Mr. Kessler has counseled global companies on high profile trade and policy issues. Mr. Kessler holds a bachelor's degree … from Yale University and master's degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago and [a] master's degree in economics from Stanford University and a juris doctorate from Stanford University. Mr. Kessler is a member of the American Bar Association and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.” (U.S. Senate Finance Committee Hearing, 6/12/2018)

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Restoring the Senate, Nominations

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