TRS: Democrats decided to boycott the committee nominations of both Tom Price and Steve Mnuchin, leaving the committee without the quorum needed to vote. Therefore, Republicans turned the tables on them by suspending their rules and confirmed both nominees:
Senate committee approves Treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin and HHS nominee Tom Price without Democrats present. pic.twitter.com/K4SpiJSuNr— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 1, 2017WT: Republicans who lead a key Senate panel suspended their own rules Wednesday and advanced President Trump’s picks to lead the Treasury and Health and Human Services departments unilaterally, saying they had no choice after Democrats boycotted committee votes for a second day in a row.
The Senate Finance Committee advanced Steven Mnuchin to lead Treasury and Rep. Tom Price as health secretary on Republican votes along, clearing the way for a confirmation vote before the full chamber. Both nominees made it out of committee on 14-0 votes.
The votes were supposed to occur on Tuesday. Yet Democrats derailed the markup by refusing to show up, which meant the panel didn’t have the quorum needed to do business. At least one Democrat must be present.
They failed to show for the rescheduled markup early Wednesday, leading to the rule change.
“They have nobody to blame but themselves,” Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, said.
Next through committee, the Attorney General spot that Democrats have equally obstructed...
TRS: Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, was just confirmed in committee despite Democrats unanimously voting against it.
So now the Sessions nomination will go the floor and Democrats, as we expected, will be unable to block this nomination.
Maybe Republicans should send Harry Reid a thank you letter for killing any chance Democrats have to block Trump’s nominees.The Judiciary Committee sends Trump's attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, to the Senate floor for a full vote https://t.co/y0w1gtxSOf— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 1, 2017
"If you can, Mitch, GO NUCLEAR, because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web. So I would say, it's up to Mitch, but I would say GO FOR IT!"The way the Democrats on Capitol Hill have acted thus far, yes, it is a necessary, viable options.
TRS: Donald Trump just said that if we have the same gridlock in Washington that we’ve had during the Obama administration, he would encourage Mitch McConnell to go nuclear to get SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch confirmed:Looks like this is the fight we've needed for a long time in D.C. Middle-finger-to-the-DemocraticSocialist-collective spectacular!
I’m so glad Trump green lighted the nuclear option, giving McConnell the needed support to pull the trigger on this.President Trump to Mitch McConnell: “Go nuclear” if SCOTUS pick doesn't clear 60 votes https://t.co/uYLDrtBh3k https://t.co/IOlYQ4XMyW— CNN (@CNN) February 1, 2017
I just hope McConnell doesn’t cower at the last minute in the face of heavy media attacks, because you know they are coming!
ADDENDUM: Moving through the day, onto Secretary of State with a full vote in the Senate...
TRS: Rex Tillerson was indeed confirmed by the Senate a few moments ago in a 56-43 vote that included a few Democrats:Related link: Trump’s Education Secretary nominee’s confirmation hangs in the balance!
The Senate confirms Rex Tillerson as secretary of state https://t.co/6OZtrfIwim https://t.co/1YDHayi4eL— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 1, 2017
