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Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent progressive from Vermont, became a candidate for Secretary of Labor in the administration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., a prospect that would suit his ambitions to be a warrior for working people Americans – and that is making some Republican senators very concerned.
It’s a testament to the deterioration of the Senate confirmation process that a longtime colleague – even one they vehemently oppose politically – would face such a Republican roadblock. In the not too distant past, fellow senators had considerable leeway on the part of the opposing party if they were chosen to join the executive branch.
“The truth is, to my knowledge, there has been a courtesy in the Senate that when a president appoints senators, they have been approved,” Sanders said in an interview.
The growing Senate resistance to Mr Sanders even before any formal action by the new administration reflects the formidable task Mr Biden faces. If Republicans would retain their Senate majority next year, Mr. Biden would be the first president since George Bush in 1989 to take office without his party controlling the chamber and handling the confirmation process. And this process has become much more toxic, to the point where senators regularly engage in near-total opposition to the choices of a president of the opposite party – if they allow consideration at all.
Some Republicans, who must win at least one of two Senate polls in Georgia on Jan.5 to hold their slim majority, have already made it known that they do not want to give Mr Biden much leeway on the issues. nominees. They note the efforts Democrats have made over the past four years to block President Trump’s choices and to force Republicans to overcome any time-consuming procedural hurdles, even when the end result was inevitable.
“I can assure you that there won’t be one set of rules for Donald Trump and, if Joe Biden takes office, another set of rules for him,” Republican Senator Tom Cotton said this week. ‘Arkansas, on the Hugh radio show. Hewitt, a conservative host.
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