Senate Democrats have taken to boycotting the Senate confirmation hearings of several of President Trump’s cabinet appointees. I understand the concept…I understand their feeling…but I don’t agree with the action.
It may be good theater but right now it’s bad politics. Congress has an exceptionally low rating in the nation and it is those dissatisfied Americans who elected Donald Trump as our 45th president.
So it’s grandstanding like this that makes them see red (pun partially intended)…it’s poor optics…and I am not sure that it even plays to the Democratic base all that well.
I am not suggesting that the Democrats play along. But they should support reasonable appointees with grace. And then they should make as much noise and draw as much attention to poor candidates in the hearings and press releases along with them.
Confirmation of almost all of President Trump’s appointees in inevitable. So make it tough but make it fair and be as public and transparent as possible in your objections.
And there are some particularly bad actors who should be sent packing and never allowed in Washington DC, like education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos. But it’s gonna be damn hard to swing a Republican vote to rejecting her if the Democrats have managed to piss them all off. They may just decide to stick it to public education out of spite (see last 6 years of Obama era).
So once again…do your jobs…do your jobs well…do your jobs dramatically…effectively make your points.
Boycotts aren’t going to impress anyone at this point!
Ed, I’ve spent quite a bit of time following the hearings.
I disagree;I believe the Dems are picking their fights having done a great job on exposing Price and DeVos.
Also, one political observer has suggested they save their energies for the most important fight, that of challenging Judge Gorbush, and recording for history McConnel’s political machinations and rejection of the Constitution by “reserving” an opening for a Republican to fill Obama’s constitutional right to have a hearing for his candidate.
Sound advice, Ed. Democrats aren’t going to gain any leverage by vindictively following the Republican obdurance against Obama. Do you job as best you can. Trump may hang himself in the long run. Though we can’t count on that as A.L.E.C. has it all pretty much under control.
In part from Ed’s link provided; “…Democrats boycotted a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee that had been scheduled to vote on the two nominees. They said they had been misled by the nominees and wanted an opportunity to investigate unanswered questions about Mr.Price’s investments and Mr. Mnuchin’s role in a bank that has been criticized for aggressive foreclosure practices.”
And “…Mr. Mnuchin has lied ‘out-and-out’to our committee …”
More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/us/politics/democrats-delay-confirmation-mnuchin-price.html?_r=1
It’s not nice to lie to or withhold information from members of Congress.
In order to “Do your job” the Democrats had to have all relative information to do a credible review of the two nominees and make an appraisal of their character and capacity. In this case, the nominees were alleged to have “lied” to or “misled” the Senate Committee.
The Democrats requested additional time to address and investigate these issues, but were denied by Republican chairman, Senator Hatch.
It appears to me that without further investigation, the Democrat members could
neither vote an “aye” nor “nay” as a result and therefore absented themselves from this mockery of a hearing that would not challenges lies and failure to disclose by the nominees.
I support their decision.
Duane, your logic is impeccable and I agree with you 100% except for the current environment. The Democrats lost the election last November…we don’t hold the White House nor the Congress. The Americans who voted against us aren’t going to get the nuance that you and I see. They will see obstructionists who aren’t doing their job. The appointees got approved anyway. I would have rather seen nay votes with comments added with the chair saying after each one that debate has ended similar to the votes on repealing Obamacare. Resistance isn’t best served in absentia.
No Ed, no. We saw how deeply the voters punished the GOPs for their obstruction, and Obama was not a threat to liberty and democracy like the Drumpf clown show is.
This Administration feels it is not accountable to the public, and all Dems are doing their jobs by voting against crooks who will not be honest to the public, and an Administration that is not acting in the best interests of America.
PS- More people voted for Democrats then Republicans in both the Senate and Presidency in 2016. The GOP has no mandate for this thuggery
Thank you for reminding me the GOP came in with less votes for both.
As this is partly titled democrats behaving badly I feel an urge to criticize your comment on cognitive dissidence. Referring to Scott Walker as “Gov Dropout” may be inaccurate and unfair.
Until Scott Walker chooses to fully release his student records to show the truth it is still possible he was kicked out of college rather than dropping out.