{"id":13068,"date":"2017-02-01T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/articles\/senate-sputtering-over-trump-nominees\/"},"modified":"2017-02-01T16:12:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T16:12:00","slug":"senate-sputtering-over-trump-nominees","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/de\/articles\/senate-sputtering-over-trump-nominees\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Sputtering Over Trump Nominees"},"template":"","class_list":["post-13068","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Amid Democratic boycott, Senate Republicans send two Trump Cabinet nominees to the floor.","featured_image":null,"article_type":1103,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":8577}"],"related_issues":false,"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Are the last vestiges of comity in the U.S. Senate disappearing before our eyes?<\/p>

It looks that way today, as Republicans frustrated by a Democratic boycott of two committee meetings have suspended procedural rules and sent two of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees to the Senate floor.<\/p>

The Senate Finance Committee action on Treasury nominee Steve Mnuchin and Health and Human Services nominee Tom Price could lead to a final vote on the Senate floor later this week. The committee's usual rules require that at least one member of the minority party be present for committee votes on presidential nominees.<\/p>

Democrats boycotted the Treasury and HHS votes to protest President Trump’s immigration orders and his dismissal on Monday of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Price and Mnuchin “have yet to answer important questions that impact the American people,” committee Democrats wrote in a letter sent to Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT, this morning.<\/p>

Democrats opted not to continue the boycott in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which shortly before noon voted 11-9 in favor of the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions for Attorney General. That vote broke along party lines, with Republicans backing Sessions and Democrats opposed.<\/p>

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The Yates firing<\/strong> has triggered a spirited debate among legal and constitutional experts. Some argue that her refusal to defend Trump's executive order at least temporarily blocking immigration from seven African and Middle Eastern countries left the President with no choice but to fire her. Others hail her decision as a brave stand on on behalf of the principle that the attorney general's duty is to the law and the Constitution, not necessarily to the President.<\/p>

The latter view is getting some surprising support -- on video -- from Sen. Sessions, who of course is Trump's nominee for a permanent appointment as attorney general. Not quite two years ago, when Yates came before the Judiciary Committee for confirmation as deputy attorney general, Sessions questioned her closely about her willingness to stand up to a President if she believed his orders violated the law and\/or the Constitution. <\/p>

\"It shouldn't take you too long so say 'no, this isn't right,\" Sessions told Yates then. \"Senator, I believe the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the President,\" she answered. <\/p>