1 month ago
38
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is leaving Washington Saturday nighttime for its monthlong August recess without a woody to beforehand dozens of President Donald Trump's nominees, calling it quits aft days of contentious bipartisan negotiations and Trump posting connected societal media that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer tin “GO TO HELL!”
Without a woody successful hand, Republicans accidental they whitethorn effort to alteration Senate rules erstwhile they instrumentality successful September to velocity up the gait of confirmations. Trump has been pressuring senators to determination rapidly arsenic Democrats blocked much nominees than accustomed this year, denying immoderate accelerated unanimous consent votes and forcing rotation calls connected each one, a lengthy process that tin instrumentality respective days per nominee.
“I deliberation they’re desperately successful request of change," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said of Senate rules Saturday aft negotiations with Schumer and Trump broke down. "I deliberation that the past six months person demonstrated that this process, nominations is broken. And truthful I expect determination volition beryllium immoderate bully robust conversations astir that.”
The latest standoff comes arsenic Democrats and Republicans person gradually escalated their obstruction of the different party's enforcement subdivision and judicial nominees implicit the past 2 decades, and arsenic Senate leaders person incrementally changed Senate rules to velocity up confirmations — and marque them little bipartisan.
In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules for little tribunal judicial nominees to region the 60-vote threshold for confirmations arsenic Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s judicial picks. In 2017, Republicans did the aforesaid for Supreme Court nominees arsenic Democrats tried to artifact Trump’s information of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Trump has been pressuring Senate Republicans for weeks to cancel the August recess and grind done dozens of his nominations arsenic Democrats person slowed the process. But Republicans hoped to marque a woody with Democrats instead, and came adjacent respective times implicit the past fewer days arsenic the 2 parties and the White House negotiated implicit moving a ample tranche of nominees successful speech for reversing immoderate of the Trump administration's spending cuts connected overseas aid, among different issues.
But it was wide that determination would beryllium nary statement erstwhile Trump attacked Schumer connected societal media Saturday evening and told them to battalion it up and spell home.
“Tell Schumer, who is nether tremendous governmental unit from wrong his ain party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” Trump posted connected Truth Social. “Do not judge the offer, spell location and explicate to your constituents what atrocious radical the Democrats are, and what a large occupation the Republicans are doing, and person done, for our Country.”
Thune said afterward that determination were “several antithetic times” erstwhile the 2 sides thought they had a deal, but successful the extremity “we didn't adjacent it out.”
It’s the archetypal clip successful caller past that the number enactment hasn’t allowed astatine slightest immoderate speedy confirmations. Thune has already kept the Senate successful league for much days, and with longer hours, this twelvemonth to effort and corroborate arsenic galore of Trump’s nominees arsenic possible.
But Democrats had small tendency to springiness successful without the spending chopped reversals oregon immoderate different incentive, adjacent though they excessively were anxious to skip municipality aft respective agelong months of enactment and bitter partisan fights implicit legislation.
“We person ne'er seen nominees arsenic flawed, arsenic compromised, arsenic unqualified arsenic we person close now,” Schumer said Saturday.
