Sen. Dan Sullivan and other Republicans are whining that mean Democratic senators are forcing them to spend too much time voting on the Senate floor.
It’s almost August and Republicans want to go home to campaign, raise money and go on vacation.
Cue the pity party.
Sullivan says that Democrats should allow Trump nominees to be approved without forcing him to take part in the time-consuming process of voting separately on each nominee on the Senate floor.
He would like to see dozens of Trump nominees in package deals requiring one vote so he can get out the door.
The Republicans are warning that the next time they are the minority party, they will make the Democrats vote on every single nominee. Senate President John Thune said the Democratic demand for voting is a dangerous precedent.
It’s not dangerous at all. It’s called part of the job.
The 100 members of the Senate should get used to voting five days a week or more. Don’t like it? Quit.
Sullivan has been in Washington, D.C. so long he doesn’t understand that complaining about having to spend too much time voting on nominees is the sign of a pampered politician.
“This is the least amount of cooperation since Herbert Hoover,” Sullivan said about the onerous voting practices, according to The Hill.
“Why is that? I remember supporting packages [of nominees] before recesses with the Biden administration, 40, 50, 60 nominees in one package,” Sullivan said.
“Why is it? We all know why. Schumer got burned during the [government funding debate. His left wing is telling him to fight and now they’re blocking every single nom,” Sullivan said.
Requiring a vote on a “nom” is hardly “blocking.”
Sullivan said he confronted his Democratic senators during the votes on John Hurley, a hedge fund executive picked by Trump to lead the enforcement of U.S. sanctions in the Treasury Department. Hurley was confirmed on a 51-47 vote.
“Look at his background. I went up to all these Democrats and said, ‘You guys, come on, man. I voted for all these Biden people, most of his Cabinet. You can’t vote yes on John Hurley?’” Sullivan said.
One of the key votes that Sullivan did not speak up about in advance was whether he would vote to confirm Trump lawyer Emil Bove to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Six retired Alaska judges are among those who called on Sullivan to reject Bove’s appointment because he was a flawed candidate. Hundreds of former prosecutors wrote the Senate opposing his selection for a lifetime judgeship, calling him “the worst conceivable nominee.”
“As a supervising attorney at the Department of Justice, long before he became President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Bove’s conduct was repeatedly questioned by his colleagues, opposing counsel and the court. In recent times, highly regarded and long-experienced attorneys at the DOJ have resigned, publicly stating that Bove demanded that they act unethically in their handling of high-profile cases. There are pending discipline complaints against him before the New York Bar,” the Alaska judges wrote.
“Despite the Senate’s refusal to hear any testimony, we believe that your sworn oath to support and defend the Constitution requires you to carefully investigate and evaluate all the allegations before making a decision,” they said.
Sullivan did not reply to the open letter from the Alaska judges.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins were the only two Republicans who spoke up against Bove in advance. The Senate voted 50-49 to confirm him Tuesday night, with Sullivan joining the GOP majority.
Earlier Tuesday, the Washington Post reported: “A third whistleblower has come forward to challenge the federal judicial nomination of Emil Bove, sharing evidence with lawmakers suggesting the controversial former attorney for Donald Trump and current top Justice Department official misled lawmakers about his handling of the dismissal of public corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.”
As the Alaska judges wrote, even Sullivan’s hand-picked Alaska judicial selection committee would never have endorsed someone like Bove.
“There is no chance that the Alaskans you have appointed to this panel would approve of such a flawed candidate to sit on the federal bench in Alaska,” they said.
“Your vote to appoint Bove will undermine your stated goal of sustaining an impartial and independent judiciary.”
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
