Senate Democrats boycotted a committee meeting on Thursday to pushback on Republican efforts to fast-track President Donald Trump's ambassador nominees, the Hill first reported.
The protest meant that the GOP needed to assemble all 12 of their members to reach a quorum and the Republicans then went about their business with no Democrat members present.
Among the most controversial of Trump's picks is Charles Kushner for ambassador to France. Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who served as a senior White House adviser in his first administration. Charles Kushner had previously received a pardon from the president thereby wiping clear his convictions on tax evasion, witness tampering, and other federal charges.
Other nominees that have been delayed are Joe Popolo, Edward Sharp Walsh, Leah Campos, and Brandon Judd as ambassadors to the Netherlands, Ireland, the Dominican Republic, and Chili, respectively.
The boycott was initiated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the ranking Democrat on the committee. "I have always believed it is important that we have Senate-confirmed ambassadors and senior officials in place to represent the United States overseas and advance our national security priorities. To that end, I have worked with Chair Risch to advance nominees on a reasonable timeline," Shaheen said in a statement.
Shaheen expressed disappointment in Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, with whom the New Hampshire senator typically has a solid working relationship.
"But I also believe strongly that this Committee should work in a bipartisan manner. Unfortunately, today the Majority did not agree to the Committee's long-standing rules and traditions to keep the Minority properly informed. Therefore, Democrats did not participate in today's proceedings."
Shaheen added, "Moving forward, it is my hope this Committee can adhere to its long-standing tradition of bipartisanship."
In April, Trump slammed the Democrat slow-walk of the confirmation process in an effort to stymie the president's agenda. "A process that should take a matter of minutes is forced into taking months, making it very hard on the new Ambassadors' families, and not good, at all, for the Good Ole' U.S.A. In a true sense, in numerous cases, what they do is actually a Threat to National Security. John Thune and the Republicans are doing a great job, but nothing much can be done when the Democrats make everyone sit, day after day, pushing the limits. The level of hostility is not to be believed!," he posted.
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