Democrats
boycott vote on Trump nominees
Trump cabinet:
Democrats boycott health and treasury picks
·
1 hour ago
Image copyright
REUTERS AND GETTY
IMAGES Image caption Democrats say they want more information on Tom
Price and Stephen Mnuchin
Trump takes
office
· Democrats on the US Senate Finance Committee are boycotting
votes for two of President Donald Trump's cabinet nominees, forcing a
postponement.
They said they wanted more information about the financial
activities of health nominee Tom Price and treasury pick Stephen Mnuchin.
Other Trump choices face votes, among them Jeff Sessions as
attorney general.
On Monday the acting attorney general was sacked for questioning
the legality of Mr Trump's immigration directive.
It imposes a temporary travel ban on seven mainly-Muslim
countries.
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates had been appointed by
President Barack Obama.
Finance Committee Democrats told reporters outside the hearing
that they were seeking more information about Tom Price's trading in health
company stock.
The Georgia Congressman has been nominated for the post of
health and human services secretary in the new administration.
The senators said they were also concerned by reports of
financier Stephen Mnuchin's behaviour involving foreclosures at his former bank
OneWest.
But Senator Orrin Hatch, the Republican committee chair,
described the Democrats' behaviour as "posturing and acting like
idiots", AP reported.
Democrats get tough, by Anthony
Zurcher, BBC News
Image copyrightAFPImage captionDemocrats explained to the press why
they were boycotting the Finance Committee votes
The unexpected walkout by Democrats during scheduled votes to
advance two of Donald Trump's more controversial cabinet nominees may be the
first shots that lead to total partisan warfare on Capitol Hill.
Democratic senators had been subjected to growing criticism from
the grass-roots Left for being too accommodating to Mr Trump and his nominees.
On Sunday, for instance, more than 200 protesters descended on Senator Diane
Feinstein's California house after she voted to confirm four earlier
administration nominees.
Now, it seems, Democrats could be heeding the anger of their
base and taking a more combative posture toward Republicans in general and Mr
Trump in particular. These politicians likely saw Acting Attorney General Sally
Yates become a liberal hero for defying the president on Monday night and are
recognising that their party's anger is a force that could propel their careers
or tear them apart.
This does not bode well for Mr Trump's Supreme Court nominee,
who will be announced on Tuesday night. While Senate Democrats have had to rely
on byzantine parliamentary manoeuvres to delay Mr Trump's cabinet picks, they
have a powerful weapon - the filibuster - at their disposal to indefinitely
block the president's high court selection.
A battle is also raging in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where
a vote is expected on Mr Sessions.
An early Trump backer, Senator Sessions has faced racism
allegations which overshadowed his confirmation hearings.
Committee chairman Senator Chuck Grassley began Tuesday's
meeting by saying that neither Mr Sessions nor any of his current staff,
"had a role in formulating or drafting the executive orders" -
including the controversial travel ban.
Media captionJeff Sessions said caricature of him as a
'Southern racist was painful'
Several Democratic Senators have spoken in the committee meeting
to say that they intend to vote against the 69-year-old Alabama senator.
Sen Diane Feinstein criticised his role in Mr Trump's election
campaign and his closeness to the new president during it.
"It is very difficult to reconcile for me the independence
and objectivity necessary for the position of attorney general with the
partisanship this nominee has demonstrated," she said.
If Mr Sessions' nomination is approved by the judiciary
committee, the full Senate - where Republicans hold a 52-48 majority - is
expected to vote on it by the end of the week.
Media captionIn 2015, Jeff Sessions asked Sally Yates if
the attorney general should ever say no to the president
The Alabama senator faced two days of tough questioning during
his confirmation hearings this month.
One of the most conservative members of the Senate, Mr Sessions
was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 after the judiciary committee heard
testimony about his remarks on race.
Media captionThe Supreme Court has been without a full
bench for almost a full year.
Also on Tuesday:
§
Mr Trump's choice to fill the long-vacant seat on the Supreme
Court is due to be announced
§
The Senate Energy Committee approves Ryan Zinke to head the
Interior Department and Rick Perry to head the Energy Department
§
The Education Committee approves Betsy DeVos as education
secretary
§
The full Senate will vote on whether to confirm Elaine Chao as
transportation secretary
The attorney general is America's top prosecutor, leads the
justice department and acts as the main adviser to the president on legal
issues.
Ms Yates was sacked by President Trump, who accused her of
"betraying" the justice department and being "weak on
borders".
§
She had said in a letter that she was
"not convinced" that the president's order on immigration was lawful.
Mr Trump replaced her with Dana Boente, a federal prosecutor for
the Eastern District of Virginia.
The immigration order, signed by the president on Friday,
temporarily banned nationals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and
Yemen from entering the US. It sparked protests in the US and abroad.
The White House has consistently defended Mr Trump's executive
order despite the controversy, with press secretary Sean Spicer saying
diplomats should "get with the programme".
Between
yesterday, when I copied this news, and now – the Republicans used procedural
actions to sidetrack Democrat resistance and bypass any pretext of real two
party government.
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