Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made the same request of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that was made to Senator Harry Reid BY Mitch McConnell 8 years ago when their parties’ roles were reversed: The request is simply that President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees must meet the same traditional standards that were demanded of President Barack Obama’s nominees eight years ago.
Schumer even went so far as to use a copy of Mitch McConnell’s original document (lest he forget his own words) just marking up/overwriting the necessary areas to reflect the changed circumstances regarding the incoming administration:
Here’s why the request was made :
- Republicans, who control the Senate, are starting to hold confirmation hearings but Nominees haven’t completed background checks & ethics clearances that are traditionally required of Cabinet appointees.
- These were the first two standards that McConnell demanded of Obama’s Cabinet nominees eight years ago — and that the Obama administration met — when Democrats controlled the Senate.
That’s right, the same person who sent a letter to Senator Harry Reid, then Majority Leader, demanding that the Nominees presented by President Barack Obama first pass the required FBI background check AND the ethics clearance wants to rush through the confirmations for Trump’s nominees without those same checks being completed, even though there are lingering concerns about the Trump administration’s big conflicts of interest around the world. HELLO HYPOCRISY!
Another giant problem looming over the confirmation process?
Per CNBC: Some Trump Cabinet Picks Have Given HUGE Cash Donations to the Senators Voting on Their Confirmations! UM, HELLO??? Anyone Listening?
ForeignPolicy.com shared, “OGE Director Walter Shaub wrote to Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.), that he had “great concern” over confirmation hearings being scheduled for several nominees who hadn’t completed the ethics review process.
“I am not aware of any occasion in the four decades since OGE was established when the Senate held a confirmation hearing before the nominee had completed the ethics review process,” Shaub wrote. As long as he remained director, the office “will not succumb to pressure to cut corners and ignore conflicts of interest.”
- Senator John McCain (R) Arizona – He withdrew his endorsement of Trump over his lewd behavior and disagrees with the President-Elect’s positions on: Foreign Policy, Russian Election Interference, and does not approve of Trump’s nominee of Rex Tillerson (who has close ties to Russia) for Secretary of State;
- Senator Rand Paul (R) Kentucky – He is a fringe Republican who doesn’t shy away from publicly disagreeing with his party. He sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which means he will vote on Tillerson (who he is not supportive of) before he reaches a full Senate vote. He leans Libertarian and is likely to disagree with Trump’s plans for everything from new trade restrictions to immigration and law enforcement.
- Senator Lindsey Graham (R) South Carolina – Graham warned that Trump would be unable to handle the challenges facing the next president and destroy the Republican Party in the process. He agrees with McCain that Trump’s foreign policy weaknesses are dangerous.
- Senator Ben Nasse (R) Nebraska – Nasse is a harsh critic of Trump. He finds him dishonest and even suggested a third party candidate challenge Trump. He agrees with the weakness in foreign policy and also finds big problems in the nomination of Tillerson for Secretary of State. He is more in line with Rand Paul and will likely challenge any deviation from traditional GOP agenda items.
- Senator Marco Rubio (R) Florida – He shares the skepticism over Trumps positions on foreign policy. Rubio also sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which means he will vote on Tillerson (Rubio distrusts his close Russia ties) before he reaches a full Senate vote.
It will only take 3 Senators crossing party lines on confirmation votes to bring it to Trump’s attention that he can’t run roughshod over Congress. At some point ethics and common sense have to come back into play. Senators are not deaf, dumb and blind. They read the newspapers (or the news online), see Trumps ridiculous behavior via Twitter and those same news sources, and they hear about it in the halls of Capital Hill.
At some point the electorate will come to their own conclusions regarding the occupant of the Oval Office, but for the security of our citizens at home and abroad, the stability and growth of our economy and our standing within the world, those who are elected to do the business of the United States FOR the citizens of the United States better reach their conclusions a hell of a lot faster! HMMM
Late addition to this post: Today it was confirmed by Ryan Mac and Matt Drange at Forbes that Donald Trump’s transition team has been receiving help vetting their cabinet nominees and political appointees from Chuck C. Johnson, infamous cyberstalker and overt white supremacist, banned for life from Twitter and suspended multiple times from Facebook for hate speech. NO WONDER THEY WANT TO PUSH THROUGH THE CONFIRMATIONS WITHOUT COMPLETED BACKGROUND CHECKS AND ETHICS REVIEWS!
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