Democrats obstruct Trump’s judicial nominees … for now

Congressional Democrats have extended their #resist strategy to Trump’s federal judicial nominees.

A report in the Washington Times said that Senate Democrats are abusing a traditional courtesy to further delay President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.

No Democrat has yet returned a blue slip signaling acceptance of President Trumps federal judicial picks – an ominous sign for Republicans, who fear it signals an upcoming attempt to slow-walk the administrations plans to reshape the federal judiciary.

Blue slips are a tradition that gives senators a soft veto over judges from their states who don’t meet with their approval. But, the patience of Republicans is running thin. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is considering pushing Trump’s nominees through without the consent of the home state Senators.

The unprofessional obstructionism from Democrats is nothing new.

Democrats in the Senate have delayed crucial appointments made by President Trump in an attempt to obstruct the will of the American people and the Presidents agenda:

• Of the 197 Presidential nominations to agencies, the Senate has only confirmed 48
• Only 2 of President Trumps 23 judicial nominations have actually been confirmed by the Senate

Democrats in the Senate have shown they are willing to irresponsibly break with tradition that allows a President to choose his own appointees in a timely fashion:

• Less than a month away from the August recess, the Senate has confirmed only 23 percent of President Trumps 216 nominations
• By the first August recess during President Obama’s first term, the Senate had confirmed 69 percent of his 454 nominations

In an effort to prevent President Trump from following through on the policies for which the American people voted, Senate Democrats are putting his nominations through time-consuming parliamentary procedures not seen by the previous Administration/

Democrats in the Senate have allowed only 10 percent of President Trumps confirmations to happen by voice vote, while more than 90 percent of Obamas were confirmed by a simple voice vote at this point in 2009.

In just a few months, Democrats have delayed President Trump’s nominations by going through the burdensome cloture process 30 times. In comparison, President Obama only had 8 cloture votes on his nominations by the first August recess of his Administration.

• Deputy Secretary of Defense
• Principal Deputy under the Secretary of Defense
• Assistant Secretary of Defense

Senate Democrats are attempting to hamstring President Trump’s law-and-order agenda by confirming less than 20 percent of his nominations to the Department of Justice and less than half of his nominations to the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Justice has only 3 of President Trumps 19 nominations confirmed. Positions waiting confirmation include:

•  Solicitor General of the United States
• Assistant Attorney General

The Department of Homeland Security has only 3 of President Trump’s nominations confirmed. The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has still not been confirmed.

Even as the President pushes to reform the healthcare system so it works for the American people, only one-third of his nominations to Health and Human Services are confirmed. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has only 3 of President Trumps 11 nominations confirmed. The Senate has yet to confirm the important position of Deputy Secretary of HHS.

The petty actions of Democrats in the Senate are hurting America’s ability to defend itself, control the border and provide essential services.