Sen. Warren wants to cram judicial confirmations before Trump presidency. Here’s how GOP leader hopefuls responded.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts recently made a push to use “every minute” of the legislative session between now and President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration to confirm dozens of federal judges. Here is what Republican Senate leadership hopefuls had to say.
Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, John Thune of South Dakota, and John Cornyn of Texas are all vying to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who announced earlier this year that he would retire as the GOP leader following the election.
When asked if they would allow Warren’s Hail Mary confirmation blitz to go through the Senate, Scott had the most blunt response of the three senators.
After Trump won the election and Republicans secured their Senate majority, flipping Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Montana, Warren posted about a “path forward” on social media, which included her pitch to cram last-minute federal confirmations.
“And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators—none of whom can be removed by the next President,” Warren said.
Republican leadership hopefuls provided varying responses to Warren’s attempts to circumvent the incoming GOP government.
When asked if they would allow Warren’s Hail Mary confirmation blitz to go through the Senate, Scott had the most blunt response of the three senators.
“Absolutely not,” Scott told Blaze News.
Cornyn’s response was less direct. When Blaze News reached out to his office for a comment, we were pointed to a quote Cornyn gave the New York Times back in September.
When the NYT asked about an end-of-year sprint from Democrats to confirm federal judges, Cornyn said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“I don’t see a lot of time for judges and I don’t see why we would make it easy for them,” Cornyn continued.
Thune, like Scott, came out strongly against Warren’s proposal.
“We will strongly oppose Democrats’ nominees between now and President Trump’s inauguration,” Thune told Blaze News. “The American people have spoken loudly and clearly that they support the Trump agenda, and we will oppose any effort to block the will of the American people.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a statement from Sen. Thune, which Blaze News received after deadline.
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