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 regular this yr, 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 mentioned 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 might be some good sturdy conversations about that.”
Schumer mentioned a guidelines change can be a “large mistake,” particularly as Senate Republicans will want Democratic votes to go spending payments and different laws transferring ahead.
“Donald Trump tried to bully us, go round us, threaten us, name us names, however he bought nothing,” Schumer mentioned.
The most recent standoff comes as Democrats and Republicans have progressively escalated their obstruction of the opposite social gathering’s government department and judicial nominees over the past 20 years, and as Senate leaders have incrementally modified Senate guidelines to hurry up confirmations — and make them much less bipartisan.
In 2013, Democrats modified Senate guidelines for decrease courtroom 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 identical for Supreme Court docket 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 by dozens of his nominations as Democrats have slowed the method. However Republicans hoped to make a cope with Democrats as a substitute, and got here shut a number of occasions over the previous few days as the 2 events and the White Home negotiated over transferring a big tranche of nominees in change for reversing a few of the Trump administration’s spending cuts on international support, 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. Nevertheless it was clear that there can be no settlement when Trump attacked Schumer on social media Saturday night and advised Republicans to pack it up and go house.
“Inform Schumer, who’s beneath great political stress from inside his personal social gathering, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” Trump posted on Fact Social. “Don’t settle for the provide, go house and clarify to your constituents what unhealthy folks the Democrats are, and what an incredible job the Republicans are doing, and have carried out, for our Nation.”
Thune mentioned afterward that there have been “a number of completely different occasions” 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 current historical past that the minority social gathering hasn’t allowed at the very least some fast confirmations. Thune has already stored the Senate in session for extra days, and with longer hours, this yr to try to affirm as lots of Trump’s nominees as potential.
However Democrats had little want to present in with out the spending reduce reversals or another incentive, regardless that they too have been desperate 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 now we have proper now,” Schumer mentioned.