Lankford Calls Out Senate Democrats’ Obstruction of President Trump’s Nominees

Republicans Move to Restore Traditional Process After Democrats Paralyze the Senate

WASHINGTON, DC - US Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Vice Chair of the Senate Republican Conference, led his colleagues on the Senate floor this week as Republicans restored the confirmation process following unprecedented obstruction by Senate Democrats of President Trump's nominees. Lankford underscored that Democrats' opposition has ground the Senate to a halt and stressed the need to restore the confirmation process that was the norm for every president before Trump.

Lankford: "Every Single Nominee Has Been Blocked"

CLICK HERE to Download Lankford's Remarks on Box.

CLICK HERE to Watch Lankford's Remarks on YouTube.

Excerpt:

"Mr. President, the Senate's stuck.

"We've had an enormous number of nominations that have tried to be able to work through this body. Quite frankly, it's the same number that we have every time it's the first term for a new president, to work its way through the body.

"But this time is different. And it's not just accidentally different. It's been intentionally different. I understand my Democratic colleagues have problems politically with President Trump. I get that respectfully, we have differences of opinion on that. But this time has been different. Every single nominee has been blocked. Every single nominee has required a vote for a motion to proceed. Two hours of debate. Another vote.

"Current status, where we are right now, to just do the nominees in our backlog, where we currently sit right now, will take about 900 hours of floor time to be able to just do those. That doesn't include the ones that are coming next for the next nominations. We're stuck, and every single one of them requires this kind of time. The Senate's no longer functioning."

Lankford: "President Trump Is Being Treated Differently"

CLICK HERE to Download Lankford's Remarks on Box.

CLICK HERE to Watch Lankford's Remarks on YouTube.

Excerpt:

"[We] want to be able to make the argument to the American people. I have to tell you, I have lots of phone calls that have gone to my office [that] say, 'Why can't the president actually move his nominees? Why is this? This seems to be different, and people may not know all the numbers and the details, but they feel it and go, Why does it feel like he's being treated differently?'

"Well, it's because President Trump is being treated differently by not having a single voice vote, not a single unanimous consent, and not a single time to be grouped together into groups that we know are going to pass. That's not ever happened in this Senate. And I've had multiple colleagues saying, 'And we're going to keep blocking every single one.'

"Well, you know what? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We're trying to figure out how to be able to get us back to our functioning again and to be able to actually operate."

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