WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate left Washington Saturday evening for its monthlong August recess and not using a deal to advance dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees, calling it quits after days of contentious bipartisan negotiations and Trump posting on social media that Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer can “GO TO HELL!”
With no deal in hand, Republicans say they might attempt to change Senate guidelines after they return in September to hurry up the tempo of confirmations. Trump has been pressuring senators to maneuver rapidly as Democrats blocked extra nominees than traditional this 12 months, denying any quick unanimous consent votes and forcing roll calls on each, a prolonged course of that may take a number of days per nominee.
“I believe they’re desperately in want of change,” Senate Majority Chief John Thune stated of Senate guidelines Saturday after negotiations with Schumer and Trump broke down. “I believe that the final six months have demonstrated that this course of, nominations is damaged. And so I count on there will likely be some good sturdy conversations about that.”
Schumer stated a guidelines change could be a “large mistake,” particularly as Senate Republicans will want Democratic votes to cross spending payments and different laws shifting ahead.
“Donald Trump tried to bully us, go round us, threaten us, name us names, however he bought nothing,” Schumer stated.
The newest standoff comes as Democrats and Republicans have steadily escalated their obstruction of the opposite occasion’s govt department and judicial nominees during the last twenty years, and as Senate leaders have incrementally modified Senate guidelines to hurry up confirmations — and make them much less bipartisan.
In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules for decrease court docket judicial nominees to take away the 60-vote threshold for confirmations as Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s judicial picks. In 2017, Republicans did the same for Supreme Court nominees as Democrats tried to dam Trump’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Trump has been pressuring Senate Republicans for weeks to cancel the August recess and grind via dozens of his nominations as Democrats have slowed the method. However Republicans hoped to make a cope with Democrats as an alternative, and got here shut a number of instances over the previous few days as the 2 events and the White Home negotiated over shifting a big tranche of nominees in alternate for reversing among the Trump administration’s spending cuts on international help, amongst different points.
The Senate held a uncommon weekend session on Saturday as Republicans held votes on nominee after nominee and because the two events tried to work out the ultimate particulars of a deal. But it surely was clear that there could be no settlement when Trump attacked Schumer on social media Saturday night and advised Republicans to pack it up and go dwelling.
“Inform Schumer, who’s beneath large political stress from inside his personal occasion, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Don’t settle for the supply, go dwelling and clarify to your constituents what unhealthy folks the Democrats are, and what an amazing job the Republicans are doing, and have executed, for our Nation.”
Thune stated afterward that there have been “a number of completely different instances” when the 2 sides thought they’d a deal, however in the long run “we didn’t shut it out.”
It’s the primary time in latest historical past that the minority occasion hasn’t allowed a minimum of some fast confirmations. Thune has already saved the Senate in session for extra days, and with longer hours, this 12 months to attempt to verify as lots of Trump’s nominees as attainable.
However Democrats had little need to present in with out the spending reduce reversals or another incentive, regardless that they too have been desirous to skip city after a number of lengthy months of labor and bitter partisan fights over laws.
“We’ve got by no means seen nominees as flawed, as compromised, as unqualified as we now have proper now,” Schumer stated.
