Washington – As President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Veterans Affairs skids to a halt, senators from both parties are voicing frustration that the White House is skipping crucial vetting of nominees and leaving lawmakers to clean up the mess.
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That sentiment was evident Tuesday on Capitol Hill after senators delayed hearings for White House physician Ronny Jackson, Trump’s surprise pick to head the VA. Jackson is facing questions about improper workplace behavior, and even Trump himself acknowledged that there were concerns about his nominee’s experience.
“The White House still seems to be feeling its way on the nomination process,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, “and does not fully appreciate how important it is to do a thorough vetting and FBI background check on nominees.”
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said that while lawmakers want to be “deferential as much as we can” to the president’s preferences for his Cabinet, “it would be nice to know some of the issues that come up after the fact before the fact.”
Trump, who promised to fill his administration with the “best people,” often gravitates toward advisers he has a personal connection with or who look the part, drawing on the approach he took as a business executive. But as president, the result is a growing list of Cabinet secretaries and other officials who do not appear to undergo the rigorous scrutiny typically expected for White House hires.
Andy Puzder, Trump’s initial choice to lead the Labor Department, stepped aside before his confirmation hearings, in part over taxes he belatedly paid on a former housekeeper not authorized to work in the United States. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price won confirmation, but ultimately resigned amid disclosures about his expensive travel habits.
Others are fighting similar charges, most notably Scott Pruitt, the embattled head of Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt faces multiple allegations of improper housing, expensing and other practices, prompting several lawmakers to call for him to step down.
The Senate has increasingly become a partisan battleground for nomination fights, a war that escalated when President Barack Obama was in the White House and Senate Democrats, who had majority control, changed the rules to allow majority vote for confirming most nominees — the so-called nuclear option — to get around GOP filibusters.
Republicans returned the favor once Trump was in the White House, and they had the Senate majority, deploying the tactic to seat Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.
Some GOP senators argue that Democrats are slow-walking even those Trump nominees with a solid track record, including Mike Pompeo, who got votes from 14 Democrats and one aligned independent last year during his confirmation for CIA director. Pompeo is now in line to run the State Department, but has faced stiff opposition from some of the same Democrats who backed him a year ago.
The Democratic opponents are going to “embarrass themselves,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Thune called it “really a new low.”
But questions about the White House’s vetting standards have no doubt given Democrats fresh ammunition to challenge Trump’s Cabinet picks.
“Our Republican colleagues bemoan the pace of the nominations,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. But he said because of the administration’s “quick, sloppy vetting process,” the Senate job of vetting nominees “is more important than ever before.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said senators don’t have to agree with a nominee’s position on the issue, but the Senate has a historic role — to advise and consent — that the president’s picks are up to the job.
“We’re not going to allow nominees to be jammed through without proper scrutiny and debate,” Murray said. “Now hopefully, the events of the last 24 hours have made it very clear why this is so important.”
Asked about the adequacy of vetting process Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that such questions are better raised with the White House.
“Look,” McConnell said, “it’s up to the administration to do the vetting.”
The medians FBI has made it impossible for people to honestly serve this country via working for Trump. Who wants to work for him when they know the FBI will snoop in like the KGB ? When Pruitt can’t fly first class like every yutz on wall st and dans deals who wants to work for trump . You guys created this unprecedented KGB like environment . Now of course you are happy that there are few applicants
To: Uneducated Archy: You should check your facts (and also watch your language). Pruitt did not fly first class as you stated. Instead, he took a private jet numerous times, when it was not really necessary to do so. The use of those private jets costs the American taxpayer $20,000 per hour. Shulkin did the same thing, and was fired. Also, it has been determined that Pruitt used government provided bodyguards for private excursions (i.e. he took his family to Disneyland), which had nothing to do with official government business.
Regarding your meshpucha Donald Trump, there is another reason why Admiral Jackson should not be confirmed by the Senate. This past January, he lied to the public about Trump’s true weight and height. Also, he glossed over Trump’s calcium buildup in his arteries, even when a noted specialist in the audience mentioned that matter to him. Last, he stated that he was going to put Trump on a special diet, and an exercise regiment. To this date, he has never done so. In fact, Trump has gained weight since January, and not lost weight. Look at how fat his face and his pippick has become of late. In summary, Admiral Jackson should be rejected by the Senate.
To #1 - Also, it has been revealed that Admiral Jackson is a shika; he was observed being drunk while on the job, by nearly two dozen witnesses, who are prepared to testify against him in a Senate hearing. Do you meant to tell all of us that every single on of them are liars? Admiral Jackson would do all of us a favor to not only withdraw his nomination as Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs, but also resign as the White House Physician. Trump has enough tsouris, without this added distraction and controversy.