Petulant Democrats decided to no-show during proceedings to vote on Trump cabinet nominations… trying to stall the process. This time, however, Republicans were ready for their games, and showed they’re not going to screw around!
Knowing that at least one member of their Party had to be present to hold a vote, for the past two days Democrats have “boycotted” the nomination proceedings of Steve Mnuchin to be the next Treasury Secretary and Tom Price to be the head of Health and Human Services.
Their attempts to avoid responsibility have been so childish that Orrin Hatch, a Republican who has served in the Senate since 1977, said it was “the most pathetic thing I have seen in my whole time in the United States Senate.”
“I think they ought to stop posturing and acting like idiots,” Hatch said.
Sen Hatch furious About Dem Infantile Walkout Today Over Price & Mnuchin Pick. Stop Posturing & Acting Like Idiots! https://t.co/bY1URIEzy4 pic.twitter.com/8DBl6EN7iL
— WINNING IN AMERICA! (@TheTrumpLady) January 31, 2017
Well, they didn’t heed his advice and again engaged in a boycott of proceedings for Price and Mnuchin.
This time, Hatch wasn’t playing games …
Via CNN:
Senate Republicans took an extraordinary step Wednesday to move forward with two of President Donald Trump’s top Cabinet nominees after confronting a boycott from Democrats.
Republican lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee — the panel that oversees the nominations of Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary and Rep. Tom Price to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services — gathered for the second day in a row with Democrats on the committee refusing to show up.
The meeting marked a striking visual of the intensely partisan environment on Capitol Hill: the Republican senators of the committee filled one half of the dais, while every single seat on the other side was empty.
Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, pointed to the “extraordinary circumstances” surrounding the gathering and allowed the Republicans in the room vote to suspend the rules of the committee.
Senator Tim Scott posted a picture of the half-empty (or was it half-full) chamber.
In Senate Finance Committee, where my friends on the left have decided political stunts are more important than showing up for work. pic.twitter.com/wPbfiWY1Cz
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) February 1, 2017
By suspending the committee rules, Republicans were able to bypass the requirement that at least one Democrat be present for the panel to vote to send a nominee to the Senate floor. With the rules suspended, the 14 remaining Republicans in the room voted to move the Mnuchin and Price nominations to the full Senate, without the need for Democrat participation.
Brilliant! It’s about time Republicans started playing the same kind of hardball Democrats play.
“There is no excuse for what they did yesterday and no excuse for them not coming today,” Hatch fumed. “We notified them and they just plain — it’s a cheap political ploy.”
“They should be ashamed,” he concluded. “They should be ashamed.”
That assumes they actually have shame, Mr. Senator, something the Democrat Party has been devoid of for many years now.
Hopefully, in the age of Trump, Congressional Republicans will continue to discover their spines and put them to good use!
Comment: Do you agree with Republicans suspending rules to get around the Democrats childish boycott? Or did they overstep their bounds? Share your thoughts with us below.
