GOP senator: Dems will ‘cave’ if Republicans ‘go 24/7’

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said Thursday that Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), would “cave” if Republicans moved to cancel scheduled recesses and stayed in session “24/7.”

“We wanted to cancel the August recess. We held a press conference on that. We wrote our leadership, and then we did take — we cancelled two weeks of the six week recess,” Sullivan told radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“I thought we should have cancelled all six weeks,” he added. “And you know, when you just do a little bit of that, just a little bit, the Dems cave. And Schumer caves.”

{mosads}

Going forward, Sullivan said, Congress should stay in session until Christmas — including weekends, if necessary. 

“People say, well, we’re running out of time. My point is, then let’s make more time,” he said. “Let’s stay here, and the leadership in the Senate is now starting to move that way, and I think it’s positive. But we’ve got a heck of a lot of work to do, as you know.”

In the interview, Sullivan railed against what he deemed Democratic “obstruction” that has stood in the way of the Senate confirming President Trump’s nominees to government posts. 

Trump’s nominees have taken longer for the Senate to confirm than those of recent presidents. According to a tally by The Washington Post and the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, Trump’s appointees have taken about 61 days to confirm on average, compared to 46 days under former President Obama and 32 days under former President George W. Bush.

Trump himself has blamed Democrats for stalling his legislative agenda. In a tweet posted earlier this year, for example, he wrote that the party had failed to develop a comprehensive platform of its own and was relying instead on obstruction.

“The Democrats have no message, not on economics, not on taxes, not on jobs, not on failing #Obamacare. They are only OBSTRUCTIONISTS!” he wrote.