Senators spar at hearing as Democrats fume over Trump picks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., accompanied by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., concludes his remarks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, before the committee voted to approve the nomination of Attorney General-designate Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., following angry exchanges between Republicans and Democrats.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Secretary of State-nominee Rex Tillerson testified on Capitol Hill, Jan. 11, in Washington. Trump’s nomination of Tillerson for secretary of state is headed toward Senate confirmation after several Democrats crossed party lines to back the former Exxon Mobil CEO.
WASHINGTON >> Partisan tensions flared in the usually decorous Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, evidence of the simmering anger as Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to block President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks.
The sparring pitted Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota against Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas just before the panel voted to approve Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination to be attorney general. Franken gave a lengthy speech in which he accused Cornyn’s Texas colleague, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of misrepresenting remarks he’d made in Sessions’ hearing several weeks earlier.
Cruz wasn’t present for Franken’s speech, and Cornyn interrupted him twice to object and say it was unfair to disparage Cruz when he wasn’t there. He said Franken was acting “untoward and inappropriate.”
Franken shot back that he wasn’t at the earlier hearing when Cruz “personally went after me, he personally impugned my integrity.” Angrily pointing at Cornyn, he asked him, “You didn’t object then, did you?”
Cornyn said he wasn’t sure he was there when Cruz spoke.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, tried to referee, asking Franken to “leave personalities out of it,” and “let it go.” But he said he’d prefer not to rule him out of order.
Franken didn’t back down, and continued his speech. Cruz arrived at the meeting after Franken had moved on to a different subject, and the two didn’t appear to exchange words.
At issue was Franken’s line of questioning at Sessions’ confirmation hearing in early January. Franken questioned the Alabama senator, a longtime member of the panel, over whether he’d exaggerated his role in several civil rights cases that Sessions had listed in a nominee questionnaire. Franken quoted attorneys who had challenged the depth of Sessions’ involvement.
Later in the day, Cruz criticized Franken for the line of questioning and suggested it was inappropriate and incorrect, calling into question the veracity of one of the lawyers.
“It is unfortunate to see members of this body impugn the integrity of a fellow senator with whom we have served for years,” Cruz said then.
Shortly after the dustup, the panel approved Sessions’ nomination along party lines, 11-9.
65 responses to “Senators spar at hearing as Democrats fume over Trump picks”
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finally the majority republicans have some ule and use it to whack the whiney democrats
imua!
I still remember all those smug Democrats during Obama’s years. Obama himself even boasted to the GOP to “win an election” if they wanted to change policies. Looks like now the shoe (or slippah) is on the other foot.
the dark times are over – many will fight before they see the light.Living off the government is over – time to ‘make America Great’…
you remember when a’ama said to the republicans “you can come aboard but you gotta go to the back of the bus, elections has consequences”. thats why we have two feet!
auwe!!!
Democrat Senator Harry Reid was warned that his shenanigans in changing Senate rules to minimize Republican involvement and power would one day be applied to Democrats. He did not heed the warning and that day has arrived, so Democrats need to stop their crying for something they created.
Yep, the GOP will soon realize that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They are pretty much selling their souls to the devil (Trump), and America pay for it tenfold later.
The losers are showing their true colors. Trump moving fast and the liptards can’t keep up. He will get it done.
My comment is awaiting moderation.
@ krusha
O had both sides of Congress for ONLY 2 years and look what happened after 8 years.
Dems LOSSES since 2009:
_Presidency
_13 U.S. Senate Seats
_64 U.S. House Seats
_13 Governorships
33 State Houses
And you lecturing us…sad.
Rex got the job. Trump is on a roll.
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@ sarge22
Ohhhhh Yeahhhhhh! ^5
These weird people endanger America. I feel scared for America. WE all do. Protect our Constitution!
Not “WE” allie, YOU (and all you Democrappers)”are scared for America”. And you should be scared since the puppets that you losers are keep getting your strings yanked by your Democrap Puppet Masters. What a joke.
Allie, go burn a trashcan.
Now, the racism, sexism and trampling on minority rights can proceed unabated.
“Democrats had been demanding time to ask more questions about both nominees. Democrats say there were unresolved questions about both nominees’ financial backgrounds.”
So, what do they do? They boycott the meeting. How smart is that?
“Republicans responded by temporarily scuttling a rule requiring at least one Democrat to be present for votes.”
“The committee then approved Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to become Health secretary and financier Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary by a pair of 14-0 votes.”
This is all an act for show. They need to do this to pander to their left-wing constituents and as a means to raise money. Congress has become all BS. Nothing gets done and the only result is that its members get rich because of the dysfunction. The republicans do the same thing.
The corrupt Democrats are using stall tactics to embarrass the President. For example, by not affirming Jeff Sessions to Attorney General, they created a situation that caused President Trump was forced to let the Acting Attorney General go. It looked bad, so it was mission accomplished by corrupt Democrats who only want to make the President look incompetent. Unfortunately for the corrupt Democrats, through the incompetent Harry Reid, a process allows Republicans to move forward, without corrupt Democrat’s support. So, I guess we should thank the incompetent Harry Reid for this process.
Look incompetent he is incompetent wake the f up.
awwww poor baby, you lost and Mr. Trump is the President. Get used to it, going to be a Great 8 years !
The tears from crying Democrats are doing more to raise sea levels than melting glaciers and polar icecaps will ever do. “Cry Me A River,” NITRO08.
“crying Democrats” = Snowflakes
I named GWBUSH as the worst. Trumpf will be hands down the worstest! He already has the lowest ratings and dropping. Wait till his picks try to do their jobs and KING LOUIE tries to micromanage them. This will be easy trashing,24/7.
It’s snowing in Nanakuli. lots of flakes.
“This WILL be easy trashing”, you like the side pick, front loader or the roll off nana? When it’s all said and done, the Democrappers domain will be Kapaa Quarry. No fo get, only 2 trips a day allowed, o’ you folks can pass one bill for exemption.
What will the Dems do now with Gorsuch? Will there be more rules suspended?
yup “nuclear option” used by the dimwit harry reid in 2013. mcconnell says that gorsuch “will” be confirmed
imua!
It’s about time the repubs started to use their muscle.
Now, Chuckie Schumer has a reason to cry.
Amy Schumer, who btw is still in the USA, is related to Crying Hairplugs Chuckie Schumer..another reason to cry.
Although this is an AP news feed, I got to admit it’s laced too much with any liberal left spin.* The vetting has been done so lets keep moving forward. Let us not resort to inappropriate (petulant child; “habut”) behavior to stifle progress. *By the way, initially I was a bit hesitant to support President Trump’s twittering…but in the light of all that is going on with inaccurate or slated mainstream news feed…this may keep them honest. Did any of you catch the meeting this a.m., re: inner city. Stay tuned for gangs in willing to a sit down meeting. I hope this happens to prevent anymore lost of life. 🙂
Typical republican power grab, in line with their attempt to muzzle the ethics office.
When it’s done by the democrats do you have a different label?
Mazie Hirono was one of the Dems that did not show up for he Judiciary committee vote in order to prevent a quorum to stall the AG nomination. Guess who is going to remember when it comes time for the FTA to approve Rail funds. Are you happy now?
Good Point.
Of course, she did not show up because she can’t think for herself and does exactly what Senator Schumer tells her to do. It’s Mazie’s way.
Is Mazie an illegal immigrant. Let’s see the papers.
The comment I made yesterday was deleted by the SA during the night for unknown reasons. Mazie came in legally as Keiko Hirono, Japan Passport I-19537, on the SS President Cleveland on March 11, 1955. Her status was M-2,dependent of US Citizen Chie Hirono, with whom she was traveling. She was naturalized in Honolulu on October 1959 under the name Mazie Keiko Hirono.
The GOP may imagine they’ve won a tactical victory by monkeying with the Senate rules, but in fact the failure to vet thoroughly the financial dealings of these fat-cat nominees significant ramifications on down the line. If their hands are subsequently found to be unclean, the consequences for them, their departments, the GOP and Trump will be considerably worse.
Truncating the vetting process and ramming appointees through is NEVER a good option, as history has shown more than once. The GOP has won a Pyrrhic victory — and not just at the Democrats’ expense, but at America’s.
the liberal winning is funny. Go Mr. Trump Go.
Don’t you realize that the Dems are using the financial question as an excuse to stall the nominations? If they really had a concern they had plenty of time already to investigate. If they really had a concern, why not just go ahead and cast a no vote not to approve the nominees?
“…the failure to vet thoroughly the financial dealings of these fat-cat nominees significant ramifications on down the line.”
Like the TAX CHEAT Timothy “Turbo Tax ” Geithner.
Getting ones information from CNN/FAKEnews will make one look like the way you are…sad.
Hanabatadays, or is the “daze?” You seem to have forgotten the confirmation hearings for Tim Geithner who was nominated by Obama to be Treasury Secretary. Republicans discovered that Geithner had cheated on his tax returns by more than $34,000 from 2001 to 2004 and employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper. Obama and leading Democrats claimed that Geithner was the best qualified to solve the country’s financial crisis and pleaded with Republicans to ignore his “honest mistakes” and confirm his nomination. Republicans could have easily prevented his confirmation, but ten (10) Republicans put the put the country’s interest first and voted for confirmation.
i would say that harry reids pyrrhic victory using the “nuclear option” is an excellent case in point
he started it and now they are getting paid back in spades lmfao
auwe
oh, you mean like the democrats have done in the past and your newspaper never reported it…. what a bunch of hypocites…..so sad what you’re doing to this great country of ours
These temper tantrums the Dems are having is ridiculous. Boycotting meetings and refusing to work is a dereliction of duty to the offices they hold. Putting the lives of American citizens in limbo is inexcusable. Anger is not an excuse to not show up and work. They are totally incompetent proving that they’re unfit to serve and they wonder why they’ve lost so many seats.
“Panel”? No such thing.
The Democrats continue to make themselves look Children. I say to them: Stop Digging yourselves into a Hole! “It Erodes your Character”.Haaaaaaaaaaaa!
Seriously.
We The People know they lack the majority votes to change the outcome.Uh huh. What’s the point or what’s next ? They resort to more foolish options,like Stalling and Boycotting. Which equates to more Temper Tantrums!
Did you get this one ?
They claim they need more time for MORE Questions? Are you kidding me? Don’t fall for it! The Republicans were WAY, Way faster in confirming Obama’s Picks. Right! So what’s up with that? This: Is just another attempt to Impede the President from a functioning administration.
Hey , I get It! Democrats Don’t like President Trump….yeah,so what else is new. Hillary LOST!
But can I suggest something ?Regardless how they feel about the President,you can either give a “Yay” vote or a “Nay” vote. Simple as that! At the same time you restore your dignity.And Save face. So please if it’s possible, let’s all Be Adults and just MOVE ON!!
“Elections have consequences” Apparently elections that have been tampered with by the FBI and foreign governments have even more.
This isn’t a new administration. It’s a hostile takeover. Since the GOP have no intention of ever seeking bipartisanship, I fully endorse democrats blocking and fighting Trump the whole way. Let the GOP power things through the sleazy way, because it’s their game right now and anything bad that happens with the economy or foreign relations is entirely on their shoulders. Don’t like it? Vote and get involved.
Pray tell, where was the “bipartisnship” sought by the democrats when they rammed through the “Un-Affordable Health Care Act? The cureent climate of divisiveness goes back at least 16 years of democrat behavior practiced each and every time they had control of either the Houss or the Senate. Short memory you have.
Please go back and review comments from Boehner and McConell after BO won his first term. The very day he won both of them promised to make BO a one term president. They’ve been uncooperative from day one. Try leading a group, company or country with that kind of obstruction. What the democrats aren’t even close to what the Reps. did.
They were invited to the table for the crafting of the ACA. They refused.
Boehner and McConnell knew what was good for the country while Obama had other ideas. Trump is doing great and the libs are barely staying afloat.
“invited”? Going deep there, Dai. You Dems would say anything.
According to former president Barry there is no evidence of any election tampering by a foreign government. And how exactly did the FBI tamper with the election?
adding:
BO said there wasn’t a smidgen of any kind of wrong doing at the IRS.
BO also said there was no scandals during his 8 years.
IMHO BO is a habitual blatant liar.
“Hot Mic Picks Up Pelosi Encouraging Congressman to ‘Tell Them You’re a Muslim’”
WOW! There are no limits as to what Dems will do…Dems have been EXPOSED (WikiLeaks) and yet they keep doing it. Shows what Dems think of their constituents..Kool Aid Sheeples.
Wait , Wait Keoni! Did you catch this one?
By;Nancy Pelosi .We are having technical difficulties with our microphone.
Can we Sing (Again)? “This Land Is My Land,This Land is your land”. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Man! I seen that on TV and nearly fell off my chair laughing. Man I’m telling you, somebody should check her Meds!Haaaaaaaa! I urge everyone who have’nt seen that “sing along”,go to youtube.It’s a Blast! Thanks Keoni I needed that!
LOL back at you!! ^5
Pelosi missed her calling as a comedienne. Maybe she and Amy “I’m Moving To Spain” Schumer can team up at the Comedy Club.
No, she did not miss her calling as a comedienne. She has been a joke the entire time she has been in Congress.
I’d like to see how The Democrats are going to react to “The Nuclear Option”? Should the Republicans decide to push the button down.
Wait ,wait what is this Nuclear Option?
Created by the Democrats And by Sen. Harry Reid. The reason for that option was to make sure the Democrats would get the Supreme Court Justice of their choosing IN ,without Republican interference. Had Hillary Clinton Won! However,there is one problem.
The Republicans WON & In A Landslide! The Democrats were Totally Blind Sided,they didn’t expect a defeat of this magnitude.
Well that “Nuclear Option has come back to roost it will come back and nip them in the you know where. Sneaky Guys. Sneaky Harry Reid.
What goes Around come Around.
It seems that the issues have less to do with the qualifications of the nominees than it does politics. The democrats are still controlled by the ultra left liberals who refuse to accept the election results. I hate it when either party resorts to changing rules to overpower the opposition but I’m not sure what alternatives there are.
The Democrats are worse than school children, I have never witnessed a bunch of Adults act more like children than I have with the democratic party and its left wing radical supporters. These acts of anger and hatred towards President Trump and the American people are the exact reasons why he won not to mention he was a better candidate. I thought the campaign race was enjoyable, but watching the Democratic Party self implode is right up there with the best of them. The Democrats are playing right into Presidents Trumps hand. Re-Election will be a slam dunk.
I do hope that Democratic Harry Reid’s nuclear option is now used by the Republican. After all , whats good for the goose is good for the gander is it not??
It is about time the Republicans showed some guts and did what they said they would do. The problem has always been that some so called conservative Republicans
were nothing but “rhinos” and were in bed with the Democrats and the corrupt globalists.
Even today, they are only pretending to support Trump but Trump is well aware of their true stripes and is not going to be fooled. Despite the alliance of Democrats, Rhinos, and
the drive by media, Hollywood, George Soros and the globalists, Trump has been able to prevail thus far but he like John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan before him
faces serious danger to his life. Trump is well aware of the danger he faces but is not going to be intimidated. Like George Washington and the Founding Fathers, Trump is being
protected and guided by Divine Providence.
president trump is like the great mano swimming around the ocean full of manini’s
plenty of manini’s talking smack and acting tough but they don’t know that they are finger food for the great mano who is coming after them
imua trump
CHOMP CHOMP!
So refreshing!