Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Newsmax that despite "historic" obstruction from Democrats, President Donald Trump's appointments to federal positions will be handled.
Lankford told "The Chris Salcedo Show" on Wednesday that, "Yeah, we will get this done the easy way or the hard way, to say the least on this. And that has been our commitment. The Republicans in the Senate are lockstep in this."
Lankford said Democrats in the Senate have gone all out to interfere with Trump's administration, bringing in the people Trump wants.
"This has been obstruction that's historic, as you've mentioned multiple times on this," he said. "But saying that, at this point right now, we have actually moved twice as many of Trump's nominees this time as we did in his first year [first term]."
He said he's proud that Republicans have stood up against the Democrat obstruction.
"We've been here nights," he said. "We've been here weekends. We continue to be able to move. So we've moved twice as many as happened in the [Trump's] first term. We still have more to be able to go."
But he said the Democrats have been relentless.
"Democrats continue to be able to block in every way they can," he said.
He explained that "the Senate typically runs by something called voice vote, unanimous consent on noncontroversial nominees. That is very typical. Most nominees move that way."
But the Democrats, he said, don't want Trump or America to succeed.
"Democrats have blocked every single one," he said. "President Trump is the first president ever not to have a single voice vote done. But we have continued to be able to work through it."
Lankford promised the Senate will get Trump's nominees confirmed.
"We're going to keep going," he said. "He's going to have more nominees passed. We're going to make sure of that."
Trump posted this week in direct comments to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to ignore a process for approving nominations, which Democrats have also ignored.
The Senator responded that he was disappointed in Trump's comments, leaving open for interpretation how he may move forward with appointments.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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