In a huge turn of events, Democrats exhibited their utmost opposition to President-elect Donald Trump on January 31 as they boycotted the committee vote on several cabinet nominees of the President. The Democrats refused to attend the scheduled voting for President's pick for Treasury Secretary and Secretary of Health and Human Services. They also blocked the vote for Senator Jeff Session's nomination as the Attorney General.
The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to vote on the nominations of Mr. Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary and Rep. Tom Price as the new head of Health and Human Services. Instead of heading to the hearing room, Democrats convened an impromptu news conference to announce that they will boycott the proceeding. According to the New York Times, the two nominees have given false statements in their nomination hearings and they needed more information before making any judgments.
This resulted into huge dismay among the Republican ranks saying that these actions are completely an unparalleled level of obstruction. "It is time to get over the fact that they lost the election," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky pointing out that the President's appointments should be seriously considered. Other Republicans claimed that the Democrats are paralyzing the formation of the new administration.
This chain of events can be traced back with what the Democrats now call "Monday Night Massacre" where President Trump fired Sally Yates. The former acting Attorney General refused to defend the Executive Order banning immigrants from seven Muslim countries which resulted in her being fired. The Democrats defended Yates claiming that the order was issued with virtual consultation from top officials and lawmakers.
The President then nominated Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as the new Attorney General accusing Yale of betraying the Justice Department. The Democrats then answered with blocking the votes for Session saying that he is too close to Trump as reported by The Washington Post. Republicans are left with no choice but to express their disappointment on the matter.
According to Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, he will call another markup to appoint the Presidential nominees. However, the timing will remain in the dark as the Senate Finance Committee rules state that voting may only proceed when there is a representative present on both political parties. This means that the Democrats may continue to refuse on attending future committee votes to delay the nomination indefinitely.
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