Who Is More Obstructionist?
A look at confirmations for Trump’s cabinet vs. Obama’s.
“It is a disgrace that my full Cabinet is still not in place, the longest such delay in the history of our country,” Donald Trump tweeted earlier this month. “Obstruction by Democrats!” Is this typical Trumpian hyperbole, or are Democrats really blocking his nominees? Well, a month after his inauguration, there are still several cabinet picks awaiting confirmation. And by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s own admission, Democrats are “using everything we can to stop these awful nominees.”
Remember in 2014 when the Demo Congressional Campaign was complaining, “No president in U.S. history has faced the level of obstruction that Barack Obama has”? Good times. Here’s a rundown of confirmation times compared to those of the previous cabinet:
- State: Rex Tillerson (13 days) vs. Hillary Clinton (2 days)
- Treasury: Steve Mnuchin (25 days) vs. Timothy Geithner (7 days)
- Justice: Jeff Sessions (20 days) vs. Eric Holder (14 days)
- Education: Betsy DeVos (19 days) vs. Arne Duncan (1 day)
- Veterans Affairs: David Shulkin (25 days) vs. Eric Shinseki (1 day)
- HUD: Ben Carson (still waiting) vs. Shaun Donovan (3 days)
- Energy: Rick Perry (still waiting) vs. Steven Chu (1 day)
- Agriculture: Sonny Perdue (still waiting) vs. Tom Vilsack (1 day)
- Interior: Ryan Zinke (still waiting) vs. Ken Salazar (1 day)
Mark Alexander called Trump’s nominees even better than Ronald Reagan’s, and it’s past time to get them confirmed.
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