Senate Democrats Boycott Two Trump Cabinet Nominees
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats used a dramatic tactic to deny committee votes for two of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. Democrats argued that the two nominees lied to them in their testimony.
The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to vote on Tom Price who is Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin who is the pick to lead the Treasury Department. But on Tuesday morning, they simply didn’t show up for the votes, denying Republicans the quorum they needed to move forward toward confirmation. At least one Democrat needs to be present for the vote to happen.
However, on Tuesday morning, Democrats boycotted and didn’t show up meaning that the votes could not take place. The rules require that at least one Democrat needs to be present for the vote to take place.
When explaining the boycott, the ranking member of the Finance Committee Ron Wyden said that the two Trump nominees “misled the public and held back important information about their backgrounds.”
He continued, “Until questions are answered, Democrats believe the committee should not move forward with either nomination. … This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple. Ethics laws are not optional, and nominees do not have a right to treat disclosure like a shell game.”
Democratic lawmakers feel that the two nominees misled them during the confirmation process. Tom Price has been questioned about his purchase of discounted stock from an Austrailian biotech company. Mr. Wyden said, “I asked Congressman Price directly if he got an exclusive discount on stock in an Australian biomedical firm, and he said no. From the committee’s investigation to company documents to the company officials’ own words, the evidence tells a different story. It looks more and more like Congressman Price got special access to a special deal.”
