Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., blocked Senate Republicans' plans to quickly confirm the president Donald Trump National security nominees Tuesday night when he objected to overriding lengthy procedural votes that are routinely skipped.
“Unfortunately, we were about to reach a consent agreement to vote on the confirmation of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the CIA tomorrow. Not today, not yesterday, when it should have happened, but tomorrow.” president Tom Cotton“R-Ark,” he said on the floor of the room. “But the senator from Connecticut decided to object at the last minute.”
“I don't really understand the objection to it Mr. Ratcliffe. The Senate confirmed that he is the Director of National Intelligence. It was fully vetted through a bipartisan process in the Senate Intelligence Committee. “We voted him out yesterday by a vote of 14 to 3,” continued Cotton, who is also chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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Thune told senators they can confirm nominations the easy way or the hard way. (Reuters)
During his objection, Murphy said there were “serious concerns” among some Democrats about John Ratcliffe, Trump's pick for the CIA. “I don't think it's too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real two-day debate on the Senate floor,” he said.
The Connecticut Democrat privately previewed Trump's eventual second presidency over the summer. “There is a lot of anxiety in the country and in the party today, because the risks are so high,” he said.
“This is because Donald Trump represents an existential threat to democracy,” he said in an appearance on CNN in July. “He has announced that he will move this country from democracy to dictatorship.”
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Cotton chairs the Intelligence Committee. (Getty Images)
Murphy's objection Tuesday night to expediting a routine procedural vote is the first case in which Democrats are using the strategy Republicans used while in the Senate minority to gain negotiating leverage.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed his frustration with the objection on the floor, saying, “Well, it went 14 to 3 out of committee. And now we've wasted a whole day when we could have acted on this nomination.”
He added, “I think the question before the council is: Do we want to vote on these people on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that is what we will do.” Weekend vote in the Senate.
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Ratcliffe is Trump's pick to lead the CIA. (Getty Images)
“This may be easy or this may be difficult.”
Murphy predicted this type of challenge while speaking to reporters last week.
“I think Republicans have changed the rules here over the last couple of years,” he said. “They used extraordinary powers to block the candidates and prolong the whole process.”
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Murphy predicted the move last week. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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He reiterated that “the rules are different now. They have changed the way the Senate works.”
Thune took action to ultimately garner votes on Ratcliffe, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense Pete Hegseth and his pick for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Since there is no agreement with Democrats to limit debate and bypass some procedural votes, the nominations will not mature for confirmation votes for more than one day.
