The Republican-led Senate is moving to confirm nominees of President Donald Trump to government posts in a lame duck session of Congress despite howls from Democrats. The Senate is looking to fill positions that would outlast Inauguration Day or even the next president, Politico reported.
The Senate leadership is looking to confirm nominations for posts on the Federal Election Commission, Federal Reserve Board and appointments to the judiciary, the website said.
An attempt to advance the choice of Judy Shelton to the Fed fell one vote short in a procedural vote, due to the absences of two Republicans in self-quarantine over exposure to someone with the novel coronavirus. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted against the move to preserve the possibility or bringing her name back when he has the votes.
Also on the nomination list for the Fed is Christopher Waller. Shelton’s post would expire in 2030; Waller’s in 2024, Politico said.
The Senate held hearings for three slots on the Federal Election Commission, which has struggled to get a quorum during Trump’s presidency. If all three are approved in December, it would have a full slate of commissioners for the first time in years.
Democrats, insisting that Joe Biden has been elected as the next president despite no concession from Trump, accused McConnell and the Republicans of being cynical and undemocratic.
''It is a mockery of the norms and the democratic process,'' Connecticut’s Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said. ''And (it) certainly defies the will of the American people who just voted out of office the president who is selecting these nominees.''
Four judges to the U.S. district courts were approved this week and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has a new batch to approve, including Thomas Kirsch to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals.
''Obviously whatever’s left [of] unfinished business we want to get it done before the end of the year and the start of the new Congress,'' Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota said. ''It’s really a culmination of a lot of work that we’ve been doing for a long time.''
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