Senate Republicans Will Clear the Nominee Blockade and Move America Forward

"It is time for the Senate to clear the nominations backlog and clear it quickly, and so we will. That way, the Senate can get back to work of legislating, working on behalf of the American people."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Majority Whip, today spoke on the Senate Floor ahead of voting to restore the long-established practice of confirming Executive Branch nominees in groups.

Click HERE to watch Senator Barrasso's remarks.

Sen. Barrasso's remarks as prepared:

"Today is Constitution Day, September 17. So I think it is a perfect day to restore the Senate's constitutional duty of advice and consent. Because when a president is elected, he needs to put his team in place to run the government. When a president wins, he gets to pick his team. Modern presidents have over 1000 positions to fill. There is a role in the Senate for advice and consent, but Senate Democrats have done everything they can to prevent President Trump from putting his team on the job. Let me be clear. Democrats' obstruction ends today.

"This week, Republicans in the Senate will break the blockade and move America forward. We will begin to confirm the backlog of President Trump's qualified nominees. Historically, the Senate has considered nominees quickly after they come out of vetting in the committees. Most were confirmed here on the Senate Floor by voice vote or unanimous consent. In President Obama's first term, 856 nominees were confirmed that way. In President Trump's first term, it was 533. In President Biden's only term, it was 530. In President Trump's second term, it has been zero. Why has not a single nominee been confirmed by voice vote or by unanimous consent? We know why. It's Democrat obstruction. The country has never seen anything like this. Senate Democrats are freezing the Senate Floor, freezing the federal government, and freezing our nation's progress. This harms America's safety. It hamstrings the agenda that Americans voted for.

"Democrats are currently holding up more than 150 qualified nominees who have already successfully been approved by Senate Committees. These are nominees who are critical to our nation's future, success, and progress as well as our safety and security. Here are just a few of the nominees being filibustered. One is the Principal Deputy Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Another is the Inspector General at the Central Intelligence Agency. Many are ambassadors to NATO allies. Then, there is the Deputy Trade Representative. Even the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center is being frozen out by Democrat obstruction. Every one of them is qualified. Every single person I just listed received bipartisan support in committee. Yet Senator Schumer is blocking critical nominees because he opposes the President who nominated them. Democrats failed to defeat President Trump at the ballot box in November. Now they're trying to sabotage his team here on the Senate Floor now. When Democrats filibuster nominees, they don't even bother to debate their qualifications. It is simply delay for the sake of delay.

"Our Senate Committees have done their jobs on all of these nominees. They appeared at hearings in committees. They answered a barrage of questions from Senators. They passed FBI background checks. They cleared Senate ethics investigations. They passed out of committee. Every one we will vote on in this group this week had bipartisan votes in committees. Let's be clear about what that means. Democrats here on the Floor are blocking nominees who members of their own party have already voted for. This is unprecedented and wrong.

"Democrats are free to vote no on nominees. An all-out obstruction weakens the country and wastes the Senate's time. Don't take my word for it. In 2013, when Barack Obama was President, Senator Elizabeth Warren came to this very Floor, and she said, 'Without a government that was staffed, justice would not be established, our common defense would be threatened, and the blessings of liberty we hoped to secure through our laws would go unfulfilled.' I would ask that Senator today, what changed? What changed is, in November, Americans voted to get America back on track. Democrats' response was to shut down the Senate nomination process and stop senators from doing the people's business.

"Today, Republicans are taking decisive action. We are going to start voting in a few minutes and break the Senate procedural traffic jam, returning to the long-established practices of the Senate. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on 48 nominees together, in a single group. Each and every one of them received bipartisan support in committees. We won't stop there, though. Over 100 more nominees will be ready for confirmation by the end of this week.

"It is time for the Senate to clear the nominations backlog and clear it quickly, and so we will. That way, the Senate can get back to work of legislating, working on behalf of the American people. We have important legislation to consider. Appropriations bills. The National Defense Authorization Act. The Farm Bill. Legislation to make our cities safe from violent crime. Senate Republicans are going to continue the work of the American people. We're going to continue to work to get America back on track."

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