[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 15, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CABINET NOMINATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, our Democratic friends are getting a 
lot of pressure from the far left to resist just about everything these 
days--reality, for one.
  The responsible route for Democrats would be to have some real talk 
with the far left about how it is past time to come to grips with the 
outcome of the last election. Instead, our Democratic friends have 
allowed themselves to be pushed around by the fringes into a strategy 
in search of a purpose--a strategy in search of a purpose.
  They really can't prevent the President's Cabinet nominees from being 
confirmed, and yet they have undertaken the most unprecedented 
obstruction of Cabinet nominees in modern history. They have postponed 
hearings repeatedly. They have boycotted committee meetings altogether. 
They have forced unnecessary procedural hurdles to delay as long as 
possible. It has resulted in this President's having the fewest number 
of Cabinet Secretaries confirmed on a percentage basis at this point of 
any incoming President since George Washington--and to what end?
  It hasn't changed the results. What it has done is forced the 
American people to go on for an unprecedented length of time without 
leadership in some of the government's most important agencies.
  We are determined to work through this pointless obstruction. We will 
take the next step in that process soon with a vote to advance a 
nominee to bring fiscal and regulatory sanity to our economy after 8 
years of stagnation. Representative Mulvaney knows that making 
government more effective and accountable is conducive to economic 
growth, and he knows that getting our fiscal house in order goes hand 
in hand with compassion. As he put it:

       Fixing the economy doesn't mean just taking a green 
     eyeshade approach to the budget. Our government isn't just 
     about numbers. A strong, healthy economy allows us to protect 
     our most vulnerable.

  That is just the kind of attitude we need in the Office of Management 
and Budget. It is good to finally see new economic leadership in place 
atop Treasury and the Small Business Administration. Now we can chart a 
better direction for this important budgetary agency, as well, and 
after we do, we will continue working through this unprecedented 
obstruction to seat the rest of the Cabinet.
  I would urge our friends across the aisle to work with us in doing 
so. Without cooperation, then, under the regular order we are going to 
end up working here well into the weekend.

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