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[Pages S2226-S2227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Order of Business
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that
notwithstanding rule XXII, the confirmation vote on the Altman
nomination occur at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, April 4.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The senior Senator from North Dakota.
[[Page S2227]]
S. Res. 50
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise to discuss why we needed to reform
the confirmation process. It was absolutely necessary to ensure that
the Senate is able to approve the President's nominees in a timely
manner.
Delays and obstruction have prevented qualified nominees from being
confirmed. In fact, at the pace the Senate has been going, it would
take more than 5 years to process the remaining nominees. Clearly, the
process isn't working.
In the Senate, we take our advice and consent role very seriously. We
all want to ensure that we have capable and qualified individuals
serving in important positions. Delays in the confirmation process
often have nothing to do with the qualifications of the candidate.
These nominees have been vetted and approved by the appropriate
committee, only to spend weeks or months waiting to be considered by
the full Senate. Currently, there are more than 100 nominees awaiting
confirmation on the Senate calendar. That is because our colleagues on
the other side of the aisle have been using the filibuster to delay all
of the nominees--even routine, highly qualified nominees.
In past administrations, a cloture vote was only required for high-
level or controversial nominations that required additional
deliberation or debate. Under President Trump, our colleagues on the
other side of the aisle have required cloture on hundreds of nominees,
which means instead of approving these nominations in a timely manner,
it often takes 3 days on the Senate floor before a final vote is taken.
That is because, following a vote to invoke cloture, there is an
additional 30 hours of floor debate after an intervening day.
During the first 2 years of the previous 3 Presidencies, there were a
total of 24 cloture votes. During the first 2 years of President
Trump's Presidency, the Senate forced a cloture vote on 128
nominations. Think about that--24 for the prior 3 Presidents and 128
cloture votes on President Trump's nominations. For President Obama,
during his first 2 years--to compare President Trump to President
Obama's first 2 years--12 for Obama. There were 12 for President Obama
and 128 for President Trump.
So let me provide another example. During the 8 years of the Obama
administration, the Senate confirmed 272 district court judges. Since
President Trump has been elected, the Senate has confirmed 53 district
judges--272 to 53 district court judges. At that pace, only 195
district court judges would be approved over a full 8-year period, far
less than the 272 during the Obama administration.
These delays impact qualified individuals across the Nation. For
example, Peter Welte, the nominee to be the U.S. district court judge
for the District of North Dakota, was nominated by President Trump more
than 77 days ago. It has been about 230 days since Drew Wrigley,
nominee to be U.S. attorney for the District of North Dakota was
originally reported by President Trump--230 days. These are qualified
nominees from my home State of North Dakota and the Presiding Officer's
home State of North Dakota who have been approved by the Senate
Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support. Yet both are still waiting
for confirmation by the U.S. Senate. They need to be out there doing
their job. They need to get confirmed.
That is why we voted today to reduce debate from 30 hours to 2 hours
for nominees like district court judges as well as many executive
branch nominees, while retaining the 30 hours of debate for high-level
nominees--for circuit court judges, Supreme Court judges, and for
Cabinet positions. We did not change the confirmation for nominees to
the highest levels of government, including the Supreme Court, circuit
court, and for Cabinet-level officials.
This reform does streamline the process for other important nominees
who have languished on the Senate calendar for far too long. This is a
commonsense reform to ensure that there is still debate on nominees,
while making the process more efficient and effective so we can get
qualified nominees confirmed and working for the American people, as is
our job.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
