Regardless of what the Republicans say, they are the ones creating a dangerous precedent with their obstruction. Their treatment of EPA nominee Gina McCarthy is simply ridiculous. First, they loaded her down with 1,100 written questions. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana submitted 600 of those questions. Then they seized on five of those questions which they said had been inadequately addressed, including a request “That all private email accounts of Regina McCarthy are exhaustively reviewed.” That sounds more like a demand than a question, don’t you think? And it’s not exactly a reasonable demand. Next, they boycotted the Enivironment & Public Works Committee hearing on McCarthy’s confirmation, and they only gave Chairwoman Barbara Boxer thirty-minutes notice. Because the Senate rules normally require at least two members of the minority to be president to have a committee quorum, the Democrats had to delay a vote on McCarthy’s confirmation. There is a loophole that Boxer intends to use, but it requires all of the Democrats to be present, and that’s a problem because Sen. Frank Lautenberg is battling cancer, is confined to a wheelchair, and has been at home in New Jersey in recent weeks. He will now head to Washington so that the committee can get McCarthy’s nomination to the floor of the Senate. You’d think someone on the Republican side would have the courtesy to say that Sen. Lautenberg’s trip is unnecessary, but no one has stepped forward, yet, to do the only decent thing under the circumstances.
Instead, we get this:
Republicans warn that Ms. Boxer would be setting a dangerous standard by disregarding the concerns of the minority party, and they point to the likelihood that the same tactic could be used in reverse if Republicans gain control of the Senate.
The Senate Republicans are also blocking the confirmation vote for Thomas Perez as Labor Secretary. Last week, they objected to allowing committees to meet while the Senate is in full session, which is almost never done. So, now the HELP committee has to meet early in the morning before the Senate convenes to get around their stonewalling.
It’s unclear to me whether they are using these tactics to avoid filibustering or merely as a supplement to filibustering. Or, perhaps, they are setting things up so that the Democrats’ maneuvers to get around their stonewalling become the casus belli to filibuster since the nominees themselves are unobjectionable.
I’m getting close to point of recommending that we just take up arms against each other. My patience for this crap is nearly exhausted.