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Sen. James Lankford speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen Building on Federal Labor Relations Authority nominations on Nov. 7, 2017.Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA Press
One underreported story of the Trump Presidency is how Democrats have abused Senate rules to block political appointees from taking their posts. Senate Republicans have been too slow to press the issue, though they are finally working on a way around Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s obstructionism.
Oklahoma Republican James Lankford is reaching out to Democrats to change a rule that allows 30 hours of Senate debate for every presidential nominee. Liberals are abusing that privilege, invoking it even for nominees with broad bipartisan support. The Senate is sitting on 78 nominees who have already been vetted and passed out of committee but can’t get a floor vote.
