Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D Trump showed his frustration with Democrats on Tuesday after blocking a vote on President Trump’s pick for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who has bipartisan support.
Speaking on the Senate floor after the vote was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Thune said the Senate could remain in session throughout the weekend to confirm Trump’s picks if progress continues to be delayed.
“Do we want to vote on these people on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do. This may be easy or it may be difficult,” Thune said. “This is about America national security interests, “We are procrastinating, so it won’t happen.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune was frustrated with Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, after he blocked a vote on John Ratcliffe’s confirmation as CIA director on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan vote of 14 to 3. For that reason, Thune said the vote to confirm him “should not be difficult.”
“Democrats and Republicans, in a very, very bipartisan way, agree that he’s very qualified for this job,” Thune said, adding that he’s not sure what a filibuster would accomplish.
In blocking the vote, Murphy said many Democrats had “serious concerns” about Ratcliffe’s ability to serve As director of the CIA Because he “repeatedly politicized intelligence” during his eight months as Director of National Intelligence in 2020.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real two-day debate on the Senate floor,” Murphy said Tuesday.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said there should be two more days of debate before John Ratcliffe can be confirmed as CIA director because of Democrats’ “serious concerns.” (Valerie Blish/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Confirmation delays pile up for Trump’s nominees as paperwork delays at federal offices
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, who leads Senate Intelligence Committee, He said the delay “is not for good reason” and is merely an attempt “to withdraw all these nominations to play procedural games.”
Cotton noted that while Democrats acted in a similar manner in 2017 with Trump’s first administration and Republicans in 2021 with Biden’s picks, this did not happen during confirmation votes prior to the last two elections.
“We should especially return to this practice when there is a highly qualified candidate who is well qualified for integrity, such as John Ratcliffe,” Cotton said. “Now we’re going to spin our wheels for two days. But, like I said, don’t make plans for the weekend. Don’t have any dinner dates scheduled starting Thursday night because we’re going to get these candidates done it the easy and collective way or the hard way it seems.”
John Ratcliffe served as Director of National Intelligence for eight months during President Trump’s first administration. (Getty Images)
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Only one of Trump’s Cabinet nominees has been confirmed so far, former Florida Senator Marco Rubio, as Secretary of State. It was He confirmed on Monday By unanimous vote.
Several candidates have advanced beyond committee votes while others are still awaiting confirmation hearings.
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