U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., spoke out last week about what he called the Senate being “stuck” because Democrats are blocking the confirmation of President Trump’s nominees.
“Mr. President, the Senate’s stuck,” Lankford said on the Senate floor. “We’ve had an enormous number of nominations that have tried to be able to work through this body. Quite frankly, it’s the same number that we have every time it’s the first term for a new president to work its way through the body. But this time is different. And it’s not just accidentally different. It’s been intentionally different.”
Lankford explained that each nominee has faced delays, requiring a vote to proceed, two hours of debate and then another vote. He said that currently it would take about 900 hours of floor time just to consider the backlogged nominees.
“The Senate’s no longer functioning,” he said.
Lankford also addressed public concerns about the delay, saying they wonder why Trump’s nominees are being treated differently.
“Well, it’s because President Trump is being treated differently by not having a single voice vote, not a single unanimous consent, and not a single time to be grouped together into groups that we know are going to pass,” Lankford said. “That’s not ever happened in this Senate. And I’ve had multiple colleagues saying, ‘we’re going to keep blocking every single one.’” Lankford added, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We’re trying to figure out how to be able to get us back to our functioning again and to be able to actually operate.”
The delay has frustrated Republicans who say the Senate is bogged down by the slow process of confirming Trump’s nominees that is affecting Senate work.