Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced his plan to move forward with a rules change designed to address what he called “historic obstruction” by Senate Democrats regarding President Donald Trump’s nominees. Speaking at a press conference alongside Senate GOP leadership, Cornyn said the measure would seek to streamline the confirmation process for nominees who have already advanced through committee.
“Last November the 5th, President Trump won a historic second term of office, and the Democrats still haven’t gotten over that yet, and they have resisted each and every one of President Trump’s nominees, forcing us to eat up invaluable floor time where we could actually be doing other things on a bipartisan basis to advance the interests of the American people,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn stated that Democrats’ resistance has created significant delays, but that Republicans are now prepared to act. “The blockade ends today,” he declared. “We will no longer tolerate Democrats’ efforts to blockade President Trump’s nominees and his agenda.”
According to Cornyn, he plans to seek unanimous consent on a resolution authored by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) during his initial time as Chair of the Senate Rules Committee. The measure would allow for multiple nominees, once advanced out of the same committee, to be considered en bloc rather than through separate votes.
“This afternoon, I will offer for unanimous consent a bill that was authored by Amy Klobuchar… that would provide a process to vote for a number of nominees en bloc, or together,” Cornyn said. However, he expressed doubt that Democrats would allow it to move forward. “I predict, here and now, that they will block that effort to a bipartisan solution to confirm nominees on a reasonable basis.”
Despite that skepticism, Cornyn said he is optimistic about the days ahead. “We’re going to start the process, as Senator Thune said today. And by next Monday, I’m optimistic we’re going to be able to confirm a large portion of the backlog of President Trump’s nominees.”
