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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., disrupted Senate Republicans’ plans to quickly confirm the president. donald trump national security candidates Tuesday night when he objected to bypassing long procedural votes that are routinely skipped.
“Unfortunately, we were about to reach a consent agreement to vote tomorrow on the confirmation of John Ratcliffe as CIA director. Not today, not yesterday, when it should have happened, but tomorrow,” the Senate Republican conference said. President Tom cottonR-Ark., said on the chamber floor. “But the senator from Connecticut decided to object at the last minute.”
“I really don’t understand the objection to Mr. Ratcliffe. The Senate confirmed him as director of national intelligence. It was fully vetted through the bipartisan process in the Senate Intelligence Committee. We eliminated it yesterday by a vote of 14 to 3,” continued Cotton, also chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Thune told senators they could confirm the nominations the easy way or the hard way. (Reuters)
During his objection, Murphy said there were “serious concerns” on the part of some Democrats about Trump’s CIA nominee, John Ratcliffe. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor,” he said.
The Connecticut Democrat notably anticipated Trump’s eventual second presidency over the summer. “Today there is a lot of anxiety in the country and in the party, and that is because there is a lot at stake,” he said.
“That’s because Donald Trump presents an existential threat to democracy. He has announced that he is going to transition this country from a democracy to a dictatorship,” he said in an appearance on CNN in July.
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Cotton chairs the intelligence committee. (Getty Images)
Murphy’s objection Tuesday night to speeding up routine procedural votes is the first instance of Democrats using the strategy Republicans employed when they were in the minority in the Senate to gain negotiating leverage.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., expressed frustration over the objection on the floor, saying, “Okay, so 14 to 3 you get out of committee. And now we’ve wasted an entire day of we could have been.” acting on that nomination.”
“And really, I think the question before the House is: Do we want to vote on these people on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do,” he said, threatening weekend votes in the upper house.
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Ratcliffe is Trump’s choice to head the CIA. (Getty Images)
“This can be easy or it can be difficult.”
Murphy foreshadowed this kind of challenge while speaking to reporters last week.
“I think the Republicans changed the rules here in the last two years,” he said. “They used extraordinary powers to block the candidates and lengthen each process.”
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Murphy previewed the move last week. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“The rules are different now, they changed the way the Senate works,” he reiterated.
Thune took steps to prepare for final votes on Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, and his pick for Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem. Since there is no agreement with Democrats to limit debate and bypass certain procedural votes, nominations will not mature for confirmation votes for more than a day.
