“That Republicans now control the Senate means, of course, that they control the confirmation process. Their majority enables them to stop an unacceptable nomination at various points: They can deny the nominee a committee hearing; they can vote the person down in committee; they can refuse to schedule a vote on a nomination sent to the floor; and the full Senate can vote to reject the nomination. The Republicans' majority status also strengthens their negotiating position with the White House, making it more likely that a mutually acceptable candidate will be chosen for a given seat.” MeanPersonsCoursesHouseGivenProcessWhitePositionRepublicanVoteMajorityVariousRefuseDenyHearingChosenCandidatesSeatsRejectsWhite HouseSenateAcceptableCommitteesSchedulesNotableNominationsConfirmationNegotiating Author:Terry Eastland
“How Obama approaches judicial selection - and how Republicans respond - now becomes an important story and will remain so until the Senate shuts down judicial confirmations, probably in the summer of 2016 if Senate custom in presidential-election years is followed.” IfsYearsImportantStoriesRepublicanApproachSummerElectionPresidentialCustomsSenateSelectionNotableJudicialConfirmationPresidential ElectionElection Years Author:Terry Eastland
“Popular religion since the time of Kant and Fichte has gone in a direction they tried to prevent and that has been disastrous for the humanity both of believers and of the rest of us. Look at the role of religion in Republican presidential primaries if you need any confirmation of this last statement.” IfsNeedsLooksHas BeensLastsHumanityRolesGoneRepublicanBelieverStatementsPrimariesPresidentialConfirmation Author:Allen W. Wood
“The question for the Republicans running the confirmation hearings in the United States Senate is whose rules are they going to use?” StatesUseRunningUnitedUnited StatesRepublicanHearingSenateConfirmation Author:Lawrence O'Donnell
“He addressed a black lawyer as "boy". That`s why Jeff Sessions couldn`t get through Senate confirmation process under the old rules followed by Democrats and Republicans.” ProcessBlackBoysRepublicanDemocratLawyerSenateSessionConfirmation Author:Lawrence O'Donnell
“Republican hawks like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who are very skeptical of [Rex Tillerson]. At the same time the Democrats will portray him as a climate criminal because he heads a big oil company. So, he'll be in for really tough confirmation hearings.” BigsCompanyRepublicanToughDemocratClimateHearingOilCriminalsSkepticalMccainHawksConfirmationOil CompaniesBig Oil Author:Rich Lowry
“Betsy DeVos, for example, has shown that she’s flatly ignorant of an astounding amount of basic education policy. It might be possible to persuade two or three Republicans to oppose her on these grounds - but only if the entire confirmation process isn’t a pure partisan battle.” IfsTwoMightThreeProcessPolicyExampleAmountRepublicanBattlePureIgnorantPartisansConfirmationBasic Education Author:Kevin Drum