79 Cloture Votes Used Against Trump Nominees Compared to 17 in Past 4 Administrations Combined

[Swordsmyth]

White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short complained of Senate Democrats’ obstruction of President Donald Trump’s nominees, saying at this rate, it will take 11 and a half years for his nominees to be given an up-or-down vote.

In the last four administrations combined, the Senate held 17 cloture votes of presidential nominees compared to the 79 cloture vote in the first 14 months of the Trump administration, Short noted.

“At this point, in the past four administrations combined -- the last four administrations -- the Senate had conducted 17 cloture votes combined - cloture vote, in essence, being a filibuster on a nominee. Seventeen cloture votes in the last four administrations combined, at this point,” Short said.

“Today, the Senate has had 79 cloture votes in the first 14 months of our administration. Seventeen, over the last four administrations, versus 79 in the first 14 months of our administration. That is roughly five times the number of the last four administrations combined,” Short said.

He accused Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) of “weaponizing a Senate procedure and demanding cloture votes on our nominees that he even eventually supports.”

“Eleven of the president's nominees have been approved without a single dissenting vote, yet still forced to go through a 30-hours of debate to essentially slow down the Senate calendar simply for the purpose of obstruction. Even Senate Democrats have begun to call this out and to say it is getting to the point of ridiculous,”

More at: https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...ared-17-past-4

[Swordsmyth]

The article seems a bit confused:

“So, let me give you one more example of the comparison, historically. In the first entire term of the George H.W. Bush administration, his entire four years, he faced one cloture vote. In the entire four years of the Clinton administration, he faces 10 cloture votes. Under the George W. Bush administration, the entire first term, he faced four cloture votes,” Short said.

“Barack Obama faced 17 in his first entire four years. We have faced 79 in our first 14 months. That adds up to 32 combined in the entire first four years of those administrations, relative to 79 in our first less than a year and a half,” he said.

It's still outrageous either way.

[dannno]

Trump's First Year Is a Big Win for Conservative Judges

By Leonard Leo On 1/23/18'
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-first-...-judges-787461


President Trump Appointed Four Times as Many Federal Appeals Judges as Obama in His First Year

http://time.com/5066679/donald-trump...judges-record/




Remember when Trump met with The Judge to talk about judges?

[Zippyjuan]

What is cloture?

https://www.senate.gov/reference/glo...rm/cloture.htm

cloture - The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.

[Swordsmyth]

What is cloture?

https://www.senate.gov/reference/glo...rm/cloture.htm

The reason they have to go for cloture is because the Demoncrats are using the filibuster on an unprecedented number of nominations, that is the point of the article.

[Zippyjuan]

Cloture ends any filibuster. Senate rules then allow for 30 hours of debate before the vote is taken. Republicans used the same tactics to delay Obama nominations. This is nothing new. What was changed is the vote to end filibuster- which was made easier: 51 votes instead of 60 meaning Republicans can end anything. There are a few other reasons for so many vacancies. First, Trump hasn't even submitted any names for 200 openings. Temporary jobs were allowed to be filled by holdovers but that was for 300 days which has now passed. And then you have a larger than usual number quitting.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...hind-other-pr/

In 2013, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed a measure to weaken Republicans’ ability to filibuster Obama’s nominees. Republicans responded with procedural combat. Now Democrats have answered in kind, putting even non-controversial nominees through the procedural gamut.

Under the 2013 rule change, the number of votes required to break a filibuster of presidential nominees — through a process called cloture — was lowered from 60 to a simple majority of 51.

But minority parties adopted new tactics. For instance, once the majority party breaks a filibuster through cloture, the minority party is allowed 30 additional hours of post-cloture debate — a procedural maneuver Democrats can use to drain the clock and bog down the confirmation process.

"Floor time is the most precious commodity in the Senate and majority leaders are loath to lose time on nominations unless they are critical," said Ian Ostrander, a political science professor at Michigan State University. "The majority party must now triage its nominations by prioritizing which ones are worth spending the time on."

According to the White House, Democrats have forced 78 cloture votes on Trump’s nominees.

But experts stressed that not all Democratic obstruction should be viewed as simple partisan warfare. Legitimate concerns have surrounded some Trump nominees’ qualifications.

They also noted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could keep the Senate in session for more hours in order to mitigate the Democrats’ use of the cloture process.

Some delays are from Republicans as well.

One analysis found that of the eight published objections in 2017, four came from Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa. More intraparty holds have been placed in recent months, Politico reported in February, with at least 11 Republican senators publicly blocking nominees for the Energy, State and Justice departments, among other agencies.

Experts noted that some of the delay is the result of legitimate concerns about Trump nominee qualifications and conflicts of interest, which has led to heightened scrutiny.

"If the president were nominating persons with impeccable credentials, no conflicts of interest, and broad support, there would be not concerns about delays," Lewis said. "Instead, the president is choosing non-traditional nominees with complex financial holdings and often less expertise than they need."

[Swordsmyth]

The Trump administration is putting pressure on Senate Republicans to crack down on Democratic efforts to delay its agenda, fueling talk about the need for rules reform among Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Republicans are in discussions with Democrats about bipartisan changes to Senate rules to speed up consideration of President Trump’s judicial and executive branch nominees, but if that effort flounders — as similar ones have in the past — they’re not ruling out unilateral action.
White House patience with the Senate’s backlog of nominees is wearing out, as Vice President Pence made clear during a private meeting with the Senate Republican Conference on Tuesday, according to lawmakers who attended the discussion.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short on Friday accused Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) of “weaponizing” the rules to keep executive and judicial branch positions vacant.
Short noted that Democrats have required Republicans to hold 79 cloture votes on nominees during Trump’s first 14 months in office.

“That’s roughly five times the number of the last four administrations combined,” he said.

A cloture vote ends dilatory action on a bill or nominee and is often used to end filibusters. It requires 60 votes to pass.
During the first 14 months of the past four administrations — a span of 56 months under Presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton and George H.W. Bush — the Senate held 17 such votes, according to Short.
He promised that Trump would begin to speak out aggressively in response to what he called “historic obstruction.”
“I think that perhaps I’m a warm-up act for him making a larger foray into this,” Short told reporters.

He said Trump would “make his case to the American people that the objection has gotten ridiculous.”

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...e-senate-rules

[dannno]

The Trump administration is putting pressure on Senate Republicans to crack down on Democratic efforts to delay its agenda, fueling talk about the need for rules reform among Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Republicans are in discussions with Democrats about bipartisan changes to Senate rules to speed up consideration of President Trump’s judicial and executive branch nominees, but if that effort flounders — as similar ones have in the past — they’re not ruling out unilateral action.
White House patience with the Senate’s backlog of nominees is wearing out, as Vice President Pence made clear during a private meeting with the Senate Republican Conference on Tuesday, according to lawmakers who attended the discussion.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short on Friday accused Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) of “weaponizing” the rules to keep executive and judicial branch positions vacant.
Short noted that Democrats have required Republicans to hold 79 cloture votes on nominees during Trump’s first 14 months in office.

“That’s roughly five times the number of the last four administrations combined,” he said.

A cloture vote ends dilatory action on a bill or nominee and is often used to end filibusters. It requires 60 votes to pass.
During the first 14 months of the past four administrations — a span of 56 months under Presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton and George H.W. Bush — the Senate held 17 such votes, according to Short.
He promised that Trump would begin to speak out aggressively in response to what he called “historic obstruction.”
“I think that perhaps I’m a warm-up act for him making a larger foray into this,” Short told reporters.

He said Trump would “make his case to the American people that the objection has gotten ridiculous.”

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...e-senate-rules

But muh zippy...