Posted on 11/28/2018 4:47:53 PM PST by yesthatjallen
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Wednesday that he is canceling votes on nearly two dozen of President Trump’s judicial nominees that were expected to come up in the Judiciary Committee this week.
The cancellation of the committee’s Thursday business meeting comes as Senate Republicans are in a standoff with outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has vowed to oppose all court picks until he gets a vote on legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller.
The notification from the Judiciary Committee didn’t specify when, or if, the committee votes on the nominations would be rescheduled. Six circuit court nominees had been expected to get a vote, as well as 15 district court nominees.
But Grassley warned late Wednesday afternoon that he would likely cancel the meeting unless he could get a deal with Flake that would allow the nominations to move forward.
“We haven’t cancelled the meeting yet,” Grassley said roughly an hour before the announcement. “If we don’t get a positive out of it, we’ll probably cancel the meeting.”
Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate allowing them to move Trump's nominees despite Flake as long as the remaining 50 Republican senators remain united.
But on the Judiciary Committee Republicans are limited to a 11-10 majority meaning they need Flake's support unless they can get help from Democrats.
"We can vote on all the people who cleared the committee," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Republican senator and member of the Judiciary Committee. "But in terms of getting a vote out of committee we need his help."
Flake reiterated earlier Wednesday that he remains committed to opposing nominees until he gets a vote on the Mueller protection bill. He tried to get consent to schedule a vote on the bill Wednesday but was blocked by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who warned that the legislation was unconstitutional.
The resolution, which cleared the Judiciary Committee earlier this year, would protect Mueller, or any other special counsel, in the event he is fired, but the bill has stalled amid opposition from GOP leadership.
The bill would codify Justice Department regulations that say only a senior department official could fire Mueller or another special counsel.
It would give a special counsel an "expedited review" of their firing. If a court determines that it wasn't for "good cause," the special counsel would be reinstated.
hes bent
He’ll make McCain look like a winner.
Exactly. Petty Flake the Fake.
You don’t know enough about Arizona to speak the truth about it.
There is not enough time to expel Flake from the committee.
This could be a godsend if the following things result from this:
If it spurs the following changing of the rules of the Senate: (It would have to be next congress)
a. The majority leader could call up a floor vote for anything for which a vote was taken in the Committee (in this case it could be Judiciary but I would extend it to other Committees). This eliminates a rogue Senator holding up appointments.
b. Change the debate time on the Senate floor for various levels. Cabinet heads and Supreme Court justices - 20 hours. There could be categories of people requiring 8 hours and some requiring 4 hours and others requiring 2 hours. The time is to be split 1/2 Rs and 1/2 Ds. The majority gets to go last . One side can choose to limit its remarks and choose to not use its full allotted time. The use of time of course can be waived by mutual consent of the majority and minority leaders. (I am fine with unanimous consent).
c. Eliminate the mandatory day(s) between the judiciary committee vote and the floor vote.
d. Eliminate the cloture vote for any votes that require a just a majority (or 50+VP) to pass. That is a duplicative vote and a waste of time.
e. If there remains a requirement to pass a Committee vote before being voted on then change the composition of the Committee to have a +2 majority. This eliminates a rogue Senator.
I have no idea why McConnell will not remove Flake from the Committee and replace him with another Senator (my suggestion would be Kyle). Perhaps there are rules that are in place that does not make this practical.
Is that your caption? Frankly, brilliant. And the answer the photo suggests is under the table someone’s put a vise grip on his balls. Probably one of the plumbers who have a copy of his FBI file.
That is certainly allowable and it has been done in the past. Take the gloves off
McConnell keeps his balls hidden at times but he’s got ‘em!
Good on Grassley - it takes the attention away from the Flaky attention whore....and once he’s gone, things will go so smooth that he won’t have left even a bump in the road.
The son-of-a-bitch is no good.
Exaxtly. He’s a jealous little baby who wants to be as cool, wealthy, and successful as Trump but knows the possibility doesn’t exist.
And take all of his friends & family with him.
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