Senate

McConnell defends 2009 nominations letter being used against him

by Jordain Carney - 01/10/17 7:08 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defended a 2009 letter he sent outlining requirements for President Obama’s nominees and warned Democrats against playing “partisan games.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — the Senate’s top Democrat — trolled McConnell on Monday by sending the Kentucky Republican his 2009 letter, noting McConnell’s requirements are “almost exactly what Democrats have requested.” Many Democrats have criticized the GOP’s packed confirmation hearing schedule.

But McConnell used the exchange as an example of why Democrats shouldn’t play “partisan games” with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees as their confirmation hearings get underway.

“[Schumer] apparently missed the fact that the letter he’s been quoting was not only sent after every one of President Obama’s eligible nominees had hearings but after all but one had been confirmed,” McConnell said on Tuesday.

He added that the 2009 letter is instead a “important reminder of how Republicans fairly treated an incoming President Obama’s Cabinet nominees and how Democrats should now do the same.”

The then-Democratic controlled Senate cleared seven Obama nominees on the first day of his administration in 2009 and key picks, including Hillary Clinton to be secretary of State and Tim Geithner to lead the Treasury Department, within a week.

{mosads}McConnell’s staff noted on Twitter Monday that the letter, which was sent in mid-February, was meant for lower-level nominations.

Schumer appeared to question that on Tuesday noting the letter “doesn’t specify” what nominations it was meant for.

“It includes cabinet members, and there were future cabinet members that would come forward,” he said. “It’s a good standard. We’re all for it. We’re asking our friends on the other side of the aisle to stick with it.”

The back-and-forth comes as the Senate is wading through a slog of confirmation hearings for Trump’s nominees.

Nine nominees were expected to head to Capitol Hill this week, but committees have kicked Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education secretary, and Wilbur Ross, his Commerce secretary, until next week.

The Office of Government Ethics has yet to publicly release either a financial disclosure or ethics letter — outlining how nominees will avoid conflicts of interest — for the two nominees as of Tuesday evening.

Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) noted on Tuesday that they hadn’t received Ross’s ethics agreement.

Schumer credited McConnell on Tuesday for being willing to move around the committee hearing schedule.

“It’s still a busy week, a little too busy for my personal taste, but it’s a good first step,” he said. “I hope we can continue to negotiate in good faith to sort out the schedule in a way that is acceptable to both of our caucuses.”

McConnell pledged over the weekend that no nominee would get a full Senate vote before all of their paperwork has been turned in.

He added on Tuesday that Democrats should show the “same courtesy and seriousness for President-Elect Trump’s nominees” as Republicans gave Obama nominees in 2009.

He reiterated that it is his top priority to get most of, if not all, of Trump’s national security team in place on the first day of his administration.

Tags Bill Nelson Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Hillary Clinton John Thune Mitch McConnell