AP: Republicans “Rammed” Nominees Through Committee With “Brute Political Muscle”

The Democrats are doing everything they can to impede President Trump from assembling his administration. In a particularly pathetic display, all of the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee boycotted the meeting where the nominations of Rep. Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services and of Steve Mnuchin as Treasury secretary were to be voted on. Under normal rules, the committee can’t conduct business unless at least one member of each party is present.

The Democrats’ ploy is discussed (ridiculed, really) at Althouse, where commenters recall similar hijinx the Democrats pulled in Wisconsin and Texas to try to delay votes. It didn’t work for them then, either.

Committee chairman Orrin Hatch consulted the Senate parliamentarian, who approved suspending the rules to proceed without the AWOL Democrats:

“They on their own accord refused to participate in the exercise,” Hatch said about the Democrats on the committee. “They have nobody to blame but themselves.”

Hatch said the Senate Parliamentarian had approved of the procedural maneuver, and insisted to reporters after the exercise was a “just utilization” of the rules. “This is all approved by the Parliamentarian,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been.”

The story here is that Republicans proceeded to conduct business, despite childish game-playing by Senate Democrats.

So how does the enemy press report the story? “GOP suspends Senate rule, muscles Trump picks through panel.”

In the latest intensification of partisan hostilities, Republicans rammed President Donald Trump’s picks to be Treasury and health secretaries through a Senate committee on Wednesday with no Democrats present after unilaterally suspending panel rules that would have otherwise prevented the vote.
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The GOP’s show of brute political muscle came shortly before a testy session of the Senate Judiciary Committee at which lawmakers approved Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to be attorney general.

And so on. Emphasis added. This is idiotic reporting. Actually, however, I think a great many readers will be pleased to see, for once, Republicans using “muscle” and brute force on anything.

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