WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate is leaving Washington on Saturday night for an August break without a deal to advance dozens of presidents Donald Trump’s Candidates, who call it, stop after a few days of controversial bipartisan negotiations and post Senate Democratic leaders on social media Chuck Schumer “Going to hell!”
Without a contract, Republicans say they may try to change Senate rules when they return in September to speed up the pace of confirmation. Trump is putting pressure on Senators to move quickly this year as Democrats blocked more candidates than usual, denying unanimous consent votes and forcing each to roll call.
“I think they’re eager to change,” Senator John Tune said on Saturday of Senate rules after negotiations with Schumer and Trump. “I think we’ve demonstrated that this process, nominations have been broken over the past six months, so I think there’s a good, robust conversation about it.”
The latest standoff comes as Democrats and Republicans have gradually escalated the obstruction of their opponents’ administrative departments and judicial candidates over the past 20 years, with Senate leaders gradually changing Senate rules to increase confirmation and making them less bipartisan.
2013, the Democratic Party Senate rules have been changed A judicial candidate in a lower court to remove the 60 vote threshold for confirmation as Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s judicial election. 2017, Republicans did the same for Supreme Court candidates When Democrats tried to stop Trump’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Trump has been putting pressure on Senate Republicans for weeks to cancel his August break and crush his nomination dozens of times as Democrats slow the process. But Republicans want to do business with Democrats instead, and the two parties and the White House have come close several times over the last few days as they negotiated a move to a large tranche of candidates in exchange for turning some of the Trump administration’s spending into reverse some of the foreign aid.
However, it was clear that there was no agreement when Trump attacked Schumer on social media on Saturday evening, telling him to pack it up and go home.
“May the radical left madman go to hell on Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party!” Trump posted to the True Society. “Don’t accept the offer. Don’t go home and explain what the Democrats are and what the Republicans are doing and have come for our country.”
Thune then said there were “a few different times” when they thought they were trading, but in the end, “we didn’t close it.”
It is the first time in recent history that minorities have not allowed at least some quick confirmations. Thune already keeps the Senate in sessions on more days, and this year he is trying to make sure as many of his Trump candidates as possible.
But Democrats had little desire to give in without spending cuts or other incentives, despite being keen to skip town after months of work and bitter partisan battle over partisan law.
“We have never seen candidates be flawed as they are violated, as they are not qualified as they are now,” Schumer said Saturday.
