{"id":20917,"date":"2017-02-01T05:10:59","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T05:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=20917"},"modified":"2017-02-01T05:10:59","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T05:10:59","slug":"senate-democrats-delay-confirmation-of-mnuchin-and-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/senate-democrats-delay-confirmation-of-mnuchin-and-price.html","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats Delay Confirmation of Mnuchin and Price"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Senate Democrats Delay Confirmation of Mnuchin and Price<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Senate Democrats Delay Confirmation of Mnuchin and Price:-<\/strong> Senate Democrats significantly escalated tensions with the White House on Tuesday, stalling action on two of President Trump\u2019s most important cabinet nominees, Steven T. Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary and Representative Tom Price to be secretary of health and human services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats boycotted a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee that had been scheduled to vote on the two nominees. They said they had been misled by the nominees and wanted an opportunity to investigate unanswered questions about Mr. Price\u2019s investments and Mr. Mnuchin\u2019s role in a bank that has been criticized for aggressive foreclosure practices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said Mr. Mnuchin had \u201cout-and-out lied to our committee\u201d about the robotic signing of foreclosure documents by the bank, OneWest, when he was its chief executive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chairman of the committee, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said the Democrats were \u201cvery upset with Donald Trump\u201d and had therefore \u201ccrippled his administration right out of the box\u201d by delaying and obstructing approval of some of his nominees.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to go back to the Civil War to find things like this,\u201d Mr. Hatch said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at empty seats in the committee room normally occupied by Democrats, Mr. Hatch described their stall tactics as \u201cthe most pathetic thing\u201d he had seen in his 40 years in the Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Finance Committee rules, the panel needs a quorum, including at least one member of the minority party, to conduct business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats have no immediate prospect of stopping Trump nominees, but by dragging out the confirmation process, they said, they can slow Mr. Trump\u2019s ability to carry out policies that many Democrats adamantly oppose.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, said Democrats were \u201cmanufacturing issues on a daily basis\u201d to string out the confirmation process and to hobble Mr. Trump. But he said: \u201cNone of this is going to lead to a different outcome. The cabinet appointments are going to be approved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats forced a delay of at least one day in a Judiciary Committee vote on Mr. Trump\u2019s nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama.<\/span><\/p>\n

But other Trump nominees advanced on Tuesday. By a vote of 93 to 6, the Senate approved the nomination of Elaine L. Chao to be secretary of transportation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, said that Ms. Chao, who served as labor secretary under President George W. Bush, was \u201ca part of the Senate family\u201d because she is married to Mr. McConnell. Mr. McConnell voted \u201cpresent.\u201d But the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, voted against Ms. Chao, saying she had refused to publicly state her position on Mr. Trump\u2019s executive order closing the nation\u2019s borders to refugees and to people from certain predominantly Muslim countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

By a vote of 12 to 11, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions recommended confirmation of Betsy DeVos to be education secretary. Ms. DeVos, a Republican fund-raiser and donor, has been a champion of charter schools and vouchers, which give families public funds to help pay tuition at private schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s pick for energy secretary, former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, won backing from the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which voted 16 to 7 to recommend his confirmation. And by a vote of 16 to 6, that committee approved Representative Ryan Zinke, Republican of Montana, to lead the Interior Department. Another Senate committee voted 18 to 1 to approve Linda McMahon, a former wrestling entertainment executive, to be head of the Small Business Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats focused their fire on Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Price.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Mnuchin profited off of kicking people out of their homes and then gave false testimony about his bank\u2019s abusive practices,\u201d Mr. Brown said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats said Mr. Price had misled the committee about his investment in a small Australian biotechnology company that could have benefited from legislation that he promoted. Mr. Price bought discounted shares in the company through a private placement after learning about the company from another congressman.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI asked Congressman Price directly if he got an exclusive discount, and he said no,\u201d said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee. \u201cThe evidence tells a different story,\u201d Mr. Wyden added. \u201cIt looks more and more like Congressman Price got special access to a special deal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At his confirmation hearing, Mr. Price said, \u201cEverything that I did was ethical, aboveboard, legal and transparent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats were equally opposed to Mr. Price\u2019s views on health policy. As a member of the House, he has led efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And as chairman of the Budget Committee, he has proposed major changes to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid, which provide coverage to more than 100 million Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Democrats cited Mr. Trump\u2019s firing of the acting attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, as a reason to block Mr. Sessions\u2019s nomination. They said he was too close to Mr. Trump to be independent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Ms. Yates had shown \u201cguts\u201d in refusing to defend Mr. Trump\u2019s executive order on immigration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have no confidence that Senator Sessions will do that,\u201d Ms. Feinstein said.<\/span><\/p>\n

She and other Democrats invoked images of Mr. Sessions standing side by side with Mr. Trump on the campaign trail, wearing a \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d campaign hat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Republicans showed no signs of breaking ranks as they defended Mr. Sessions, a friend to many of them, and they predicted that he would eventually be confirmed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said that \u201cthe fact that he\u2019s close to the president\u201d should not surprise anyone. \u201cIs this going to be the test for us all going forward?\u201d Mr. Graham asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/01\/31\/us\/politics\/democrats-delay-confirmation-mnuchin-price.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront<\/span><\/div>\n

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