Sounds good…now get Trump to release his tax returns.
Senate Democrats are justified in refusing to cooperate with any confirmation process until Merrick Garland or whoever else Obama nominates to the Supreme Court gets a fair hearing.
No cabinet appointments should be permitted until the President discloses his financial interests and stops governing in breach of the emoluments clause. Warren and Nadler have taken the lead here and must be supported.
Hmmm. The Dems’ ability to demand this kind of information may be limited by the 2013 “nuclear” changes to the filibuster rules. We’ll see how far the Repubs can be pushed. Only three of them need to defect if the Dems stay unified.
I wonder if the omission of Col. Beauregard Sessions (the one with the Alfred E. Neuman ears) from the list of nominees who may be in trouble was an oversight or an omen. For those too young, here is Mr Neuman:
There’s a huge difference between kvetching and obstructing. The Dems are in full kvetch mode here.
It sounds like they don’t have any leverage here unless they are joined by at least three Republican senators, so that’s where the most pressure needs to be focused. And it may require more than three because not even all of the Dem senators are reliable (e.g., Manchin).
The Senate Dems may need to take advisement from Sen. Franken on how to conduct a casting for Trump’s picks for positions. They should add in their list of required materials current head shots, an audition reel, and write a set audition piece for nominees to perform.
Casting couch will be optional.
And you think this administration and its GOP lackeys are going to play nice about this…WHY? Trump himself has blown off releasing tax returns or detailed financial disclosures of his properties and outstanding loan obligations, his family is measuring the drapes in DC to set up a grifter’s Home Depot, and his appointees are a who’s who of corporate shysters who have specialized in big bank shenanigans, foreclosures of middle class home owners, and the rape of coal miner health and pension benefits as they bleed dry failing mining companies for pennies on the dollar.
This whole gang is primarily a cess pool of alligators.
I’ll be quite surprised if the Tillersons, Mnuchins, and Rosss et al make public their personal details, and their buddies in Congress clearly have no interest in finding out.
If they go through without detailed disclosures, the refilling of the swamp will be complete…with double sprinkles on top.
Bwahahahahaha!
And maybe Trump will release his financial information too…
or divest his business interests to avoid conflicts
or reveal how much he owes Russian oligarchs…or China
or or or…
You are not dealing with people who are bothered by ethics or what you think is fair.
Democrats don’t want to see longstanding norms fall by the wayside.
“Longstanding norms”.
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Like Republicans not colluding with Russia to throw the election?
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Like a Commander-in-Chief who doesn’t brag about sexually assaulting people?
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Like a President who hasn’t declared bankruptcy six times?
2016 murdered “longstanding norms”, burned the body, and threw the ashes in America’s face.
Yeah. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Humpf! Democrats with a plan, showing their spine? Yeah when I see it.
Good. The important thing is to run out the 100-day clock on the Congressional Review Act.
You forgot “Like a non-partisan FBI”, should be first on the list.
Some of the Trump nominees are incredibly unqualified or tainted, or both. While it isn’t clear that dems have the real clout to block these nominations, they should be in front of the press every day making loud noises with facts about just how bad these folks are. They should drag out the vetting as much as possible and discredit these nominees with the public at every opportunity. At the very minimum, dems should not be seen as having helped clonfirm any of these folks because of all of the outrages they will surely do when once in office.
Here is the thing. Democrats are going to have to show some spine. Republicans have never been forced to pay for their obstruction. If we want to save the Republic, Democrats are going to have to shelve the idea that they can cooperate with those who seek to dismantle large portions of what we have come to expect from our government. Mr. Schumer, are you a Vichy Democrat, or are we going to get some real leadership from you?
My prediction…in most every way that we have set up to vet the bona fides of incoming nominees, in the laws governing executive orders, in the rules by which agencies and commissions operate…
In all those, you are very likely going to see a GOP that simply ignores them. Obama issues an executive order about Arctic and Atlantic offshore drilling?
They’ll ignore it. You don’t like it? So sue us!!!
It’s the Trump MO and you are going to see it used repeatedly. Today’s GOP and its acolytes, including Trump’s incoming appointees at all levels, have a clear agenda…gut regulation wherever possible, weaken agencies, drive out opponents, get rid of data that speaks truth to their lies, stack the courts and regulatory bodies.
Yes there will be lawsuits and protests, but these folks don’t care. They defy you to try and stop them, and while you are busy taking them to court for lengthy and expensive and exhausting legal battles, they are doing all they can to make a system that works for them and endures for years to come.
Count on it!!!
I remember Longstanding Norm.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and he’s wearing Milk Bone underwear.
The billionaires better tread lightly.
As a wise man once said: one week you’re on the cover of Time, the next week you’re doing time.
The only way there will be resistance to Trump on any matter will be if the coming scandals threaten to engulf the GOP, as in Watergate.
The Dems just have to remember: when your opponents are drowning, throw them an anchor. Patience.
It’s just a matter of time before the Trump chumps go completely wild, start overreaching, and implode.