depotoo
Diamond Member
- Sep 9, 2012
- 40,718
- 13,425
- 2,280
Honey, the Dems have used every stalling tactic within and outside of the play book. Postponing, anyway they can, even requiring 30 hrs debate on those nominees they know will pass their own Dems-
Well, actions speak much louder than words. With a Republican in the White House, Senate Democrats have turned our role of advice and consent into the most aggressive obstruction campaign in history.
Democrats complained about obstruction when, during the first six months of the Obama administration, the Senate confirmed 69 percent of his nominations. Today marks six months since President Trump took the oath of office and the Senate has been able to confirm only 23 percent of his nominations. I ask my Democratic colleagues: if 69 percent is too low, what do you call a confirmation pace that is two-thirds lower?
Democrats do not have the votes to defeat nominees outright. That’s why the centerpiece of their obstruction campaign is a strategy to make confirming President Trump’s nominees as difficult and time-consuming as possible. Here’s how they do it.
The Senate is designed for deliberation as well as for action. As a result, the Senate must end debate on a nomination before it can confirm that nomination. Doing so informally is fast; doing it formally is slow.
In the past, the majority and minority informally agreed on the necessity or length of any debate on a nomination, as well as when a confirmation vote would occur. The first step in the Democrats’ obstruction campaign, therefore, is to refuse any cooperation on scheduling debates and votes on nominations.
The only option is to use the formal process of ending debate by invoking cloture under Senate Rule 22. A motion to end debate is filed but the vote on that motion cannot occur for two calendar days. If cloture is invoked, there can then be up to 30 hours of debate before a confirmation vote can occur. The Democrats’ obstruction playbook calls for stretching this process out as long as possible. While informal cooperation can take a few hours, the formal cloture process can take up to several days.
The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said that you are entitled to your opinion, but not to your own set of facts. Let’s let the confirmation facts do the talking. President Trump and his three predecessors were each elected with the Senate controlled by his own political party.
At this point in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, the Senate had taken no cloture votes on nominations. We took just four nomination cloture votes at this point during the Obama administration. So far in the Trump administration, the Senate has taken 33 cloture votes on nominations. It’s not even close.
There is one very important difference between cloture votes taken at the beginning of the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations and those taken this year. In November 2013, Democrats effectively abolished nomination filibusters by lowering the votes necessary to end debate from a supermajority of 60 to a simple majority. It now takes no more votes to end debate than it does to confirm a nomination. In other words, the Senate did not take cloture votes during previous administrations, even though doing so could have prevented confirmation. Today, Democrats are forcing the Senate to take dozens of cloture votes even though doing so cannot prevent confirmation.
At least half of these useless cloture votes taken so far would have passed even under the higher 60-vote threshold. Earlier this week, 88 Senators, including 41 Democrats, voted to end debate on President Trump’s nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Defense. We’ve seen tallies of 67, 81, 89, and even 92 votes for ending debate.
Hatch Blasts Democrat Obstruction on Critical Nominees - Press Releases - United States Senator Orrin Hatch
Well, actions speak much louder than words. With a Republican in the White House, Senate Democrats have turned our role of advice and consent into the most aggressive obstruction campaign in history.
Democrats complained about obstruction when, during the first six months of the Obama administration, the Senate confirmed 69 percent of his nominations. Today marks six months since President Trump took the oath of office and the Senate has been able to confirm only 23 percent of his nominations. I ask my Democratic colleagues: if 69 percent is too low, what do you call a confirmation pace that is two-thirds lower?
Democrats do not have the votes to defeat nominees outright. That’s why the centerpiece of their obstruction campaign is a strategy to make confirming President Trump’s nominees as difficult and time-consuming as possible. Here’s how they do it.
The Senate is designed for deliberation as well as for action. As a result, the Senate must end debate on a nomination before it can confirm that nomination. Doing so informally is fast; doing it formally is slow.
In the past, the majority and minority informally agreed on the necessity or length of any debate on a nomination, as well as when a confirmation vote would occur. The first step in the Democrats’ obstruction campaign, therefore, is to refuse any cooperation on scheduling debates and votes on nominations.
The only option is to use the formal process of ending debate by invoking cloture under Senate Rule 22. A motion to end debate is filed but the vote on that motion cannot occur for two calendar days. If cloture is invoked, there can then be up to 30 hours of debate before a confirmation vote can occur. The Democrats’ obstruction playbook calls for stretching this process out as long as possible. While informal cooperation can take a few hours, the formal cloture process can take up to several days.
The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said that you are entitled to your opinion, but not to your own set of facts. Let’s let the confirmation facts do the talking. President Trump and his three predecessors were each elected with the Senate controlled by his own political party.
At this point in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, the Senate had taken no cloture votes on nominations. We took just four nomination cloture votes at this point during the Obama administration. So far in the Trump administration, the Senate has taken 33 cloture votes on nominations. It’s not even close.
There is one very important difference between cloture votes taken at the beginning of the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations and those taken this year. In November 2013, Democrats effectively abolished nomination filibusters by lowering the votes necessary to end debate from a supermajority of 60 to a simple majority. It now takes no more votes to end debate than it does to confirm a nomination. In other words, the Senate did not take cloture votes during previous administrations, even though doing so could have prevented confirmation. Today, Democrats are forcing the Senate to take dozens of cloture votes even though doing so cannot prevent confirmation.
At least half of these useless cloture votes taken so far would have passed even under the higher 60-vote threshold. Earlier this week, 88 Senators, including 41 Democrats, voted to end debate on President Trump’s nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Defense. We’ve seen tallies of 67, 81, 89, and even 92 votes for ending debate.
Hatch Blasts Democrat Obstruction on Critical Nominees - Press Releases - United States Senator Orrin Hatch
