Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has no intentions to make the confirmation process of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees easy for Republicans.
The New York Democrat made it clear he is a hard “no” on a number of Trump’s picks, especially in the wake of the president signing an executive order halting visas and immigration from seven Middle Eastern countries for 120 days.
“I’ve made it very clear I will vote NO on nominees DeVos (education), Tillerson (state) and Sessions (attorney general),” Schumer wrote in a Facebook post Monday. “Nothing will change that, and while I will continue to demand that each nominee issue a public statement on his or her views of President Trump’s Muslim Ban, I will vote against nominees who will be the very worst of this anti-immigrant, anti-middle-class, billionaires’ club cabinet.”
The administration has reiterated the executive order is not a Muslim ban, arguing it’s preventative measure aimed at keeping the country safe from potential acts of terror.
Democrats are expected to attempt to stall the vote on secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson, with Democratic aides telling CNN a number of senators plan to take to the Senate floor to demand his stance on the issue.
The upper chamber is expected to vote on a procedural measure to cut off the potential filibuster Monday, and if successful, a final vote could come as soon as Wednesday.
Schumer railed against a number of the administration’s picks, saying he doesn’t believe they have the best interests of the middle class in mind.
“Rep Mick Mulvaney for Budget Director, Rep Tom Price for Health and Human Services, Steve Mnuchin for Treasury, Scott Pruitt for EPA and Andy Puzder for Labor have repeatedly shown they will not put the American People or the Laws of our nation first, and I will vote against their confirmations,” he wrote.
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