Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) on Tuesday expressed frustration with Democrats after President Trump’s confirmation vote on his nomination of John Ratcliffe to head the CIA, which had bipartisan support, was blocked. .
After the vote was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Thune spoke on the Senate floor and said the Senate could remain in session all weekend to confirm Trump’s election if progress continues to be delayed. said.
“Do you want to vote for these people on Tuesday, or do you want to vote on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re trying to do. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it’s difficult,” Thun said. said. “That’s not going to happen because this is an issue that concerns the national security interests of the United States and we’re at an impasse.”
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Senate Minority Leader John Thune (R) was frustrated with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who blocked a vote to confirm John Ratcliffe as CIA director on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan vote of 14-3. As a result, Mr. Thun said, an approval vote “shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Democrats and Republicans agree on a bipartisan basis that he is extremely qualified for this job,” Thune said, adding that he did not know what the stall would entail.
In blocking the vote, Murphy said many Democrats criticized Ratcliffe’s ability to serve as CIA director because he “repeatedly politicized intelligence operations” during his eight months as director of national intelligence in 2020. He said he had “grave concerns”.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask to make sure we have a full-fledged debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor,” Murphy said Tuesday.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said two more days of debate are needed to confirm John Ratcliffe as CIA director because of Democrats’ “serious concerns.” (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there is “no good reason” for the delay, simply “trying to drag out all these nominees and play some procedural games.” He said it was just an attempt.
Cotton said Democrats took similar action in 2017 during the Trump administration and Republicans took similar action in 2021 when Biden was elected, but nothing like this happened in the past two pre-election confirmation votes. I pointed out that it didn’t happen.
“We should go back to that practice, especially when you have a candidate like John Ratcliffe, who is very accomplished, highly qualified, and has integrity,” Cotton said. “I’m going to do my best over the next two days. But like I said, don’t make plans for the weekend. Don’t make dinner plans starting Thursday night. We’re going to get candidates, so it’s easy. It was done in a collegial way, or it was obviously done in a difficult way.”
John Ratcliffe served as Director of National Intelligence for eight months during President Trump’s first administration. (Getty Images)
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Only one of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees has been confirmed so far, and that is former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. He was approved by a unanimous vote on Monday.
Some candidates have advanced to committee votes, while others are still awaiting confirmation hearings.
