“The Democrats have blocked judges, they’ve blocked Cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking officials. Many of these nominees even had Democrat support – and they’re not controversial at all, but Democrats are doing everything they can to slow down the process.”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor about how Democrats are needlessly delaying the confirmation votes for judges, Cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking officials.
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“President Trump has been in office now for more than nine months.
“For the entire time, Senate Democrats have been trying to obstruct him from doing the very job that he was elected by the American people to do.
“The president has laid out his agenda to create jobs, to grow the economy, and to help hard-working American taxpayers.
“Yet, Democrats will do anything they can to stop the president from putting his team in place to accomplish these goals.
“They’ve tried to stop the president’s legislative agenda because they know that his policies –President Trump’s policies –will actually work.
“When Republican policies become law, Democrats know that people will see how successful these Republican policies are.
“I think Democrats are worried that they may never win another election again once we get these policies into place.
“That’s why we’ve seen record amounts of delay and obstruction by the Democrats in the Senate.
“They’ve done it on legislation – and they’ve even blocked the president from filling some of the most basic jobs within his administration.
“It started on Day One.
“Normally on Inauguration Day, the president gets a substantial number of people confirmed to his Cabinet.
“The idea is to let the president get his team in place, so that they can hit the ground running.
“President Obama had six on Inauguration Day. President Bush –seven on Inauguration Day in terms of secretaries confirmed.
“And these confirmations were by voice vote.
“Republicans in the Senate didn’t do anything to try to block the Cabinet secretaries for President Obama.
“We understood that it’s best to give a new president a chance –for all of us to work together when we can.
“George W. Bush—seven.
“That’s how it usually works.
“Well, not anymore. Not with this group of Democrats in the Senate.
“They really were never interested in giving President Trump a chance.
“They really don’t seem to be interested in working together.
“Last January, President Trump got two people confirmed to his Cabinet on Inauguration Day.
“The secretary of defense, and the secretary of homeland security – the only two jobs that Democrats allowed the president to fill.
“In President Trump’s first nine months in office, Democrats have continued to block the way.
“They’ve allowed just 185 of his nominees to take their jobs.
“That’s how ridiculous the Democrats have been in trying to keep President Trump from putting his team in place. By the same time this far into the administration, President Obama had 364 nominees in place.
“The Democrats have blocked judges, they’ve blocked Cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking officials.
“Many of these nominees even had Democrat support – and they’re not controversial at all, but Democrats are doing everything they can to slow down the process.
“In President Obama’s time –first nine months, he had 364.
“President Obama has gotten two for every one that President Trump has gotten confirmed.
“Today, there are 81 of President Trump’s nominees who have come through the committees and another some today.
“That’s 81 people nominated by the president for positions in the government that are just waiting right now on the Senate floor for a vote.
“These are people who got through the nomination process in June, who are still waiting and being blocked by Democrats in the Senate.
“It’s outrageous.
“Do Democrats really think these aren’t important jobs?
“I believe we should confirm as many of these as possible today.
“There are 13 judges waiting for confirmation. Eight U.S. Attorneys waiting – including the U.S. Attorney for my home state of Wyoming. These are important jobs.
“All of these people have followed the process, they’ve done everything they’ve been asked to do. They’ve filled out the paperwork, the disclosures, gone through the committee.
“Now it’s time for the Senate to get its work done. So I’d say, let’s do it today.
“Interestingly enough in August, Democrats finally allowed a significant number of people to be confirmed. More than 60 people were confirmed by voice vote on one day.
“That’s the kind of thing that used to be very routine in the Senate – letting a large number of non-controversial nominees to be approved all at once.
“It is now time for us to do it again. It’s time to clear the deck and let these people who’ve been nominated, vetted, gone through the committees, been approved—time to get them to work.
“We need to move these nominations, because we’ve got more nominations on the way.
“We’re going to have to deal with the nominations of two Cabinet secretaries that are currently vacant.
“President Trump has nominated to be Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen
“It’s an important job–she is very well qualified for it.
“Do Democrats plan to obstruct this qualified woman from doing the important job for which she’s been nominated by President Trump?
“The president deserves to have his team in place.
“The Senate has an obligation to get that work done.
“And the Department of Homeland Security deserves to have a secretary in place to keep us safe.
“That’s how it’s worked in the past, and that’s how it’s should be working now.
“These are people who manage major departments in government, and they manage many career workers.
“Because we know that the Washington bureaucracy has grown tremendously over the years.
“It’s very difficult to eliminate people who aren’t doing their jobs properly. We’ve seen it in scandals over the years.
“Remember the Gold King Mine disaster?
“President Obama’s EPA, the group that’s supposed to protect the environment, actually dumped three million gallons of toxic wastewater into a river in Colorado.
“Remember the scandals involving bureaucrats at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the IRS, and the General Services Administration during the Obama administration?
“We need presidential appointees in place overseeing these federal workers to make sure that the government of the people is accountable to the American people.
“This Senate needs to be involved in providing oversight through our power of advice and consent.
“These are important jobs. We have qualified people ready to do their work.
“Democrats have delayed for nine months.
“It’s time to break that logjam today.”
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