It's Tuesday, June 14 and Day 122 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell laid down his Supreme Court blockade: No meetings, no hearings, no votes on his replacement. It's also Day 90 since President Obama named Merrick Garland to be Scalia's replacement. What's the Senate doing today instead of considering the Supreme Court nominee?
They passed a defense authorization bill, one marred by the things that were not in it, because the supposed regular order/open amendments process Mitch McConnell said he would follow as leader didn't happen. That included an amendment Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has been trying to get enacted for a few years now, to force the military to adequately deal with the epidemic of sexual assaults in its ranks. But, hey, they passed a bill, so huzzah for them.
What aren't they doing? Considering any of President Obama's nominees, not the least of which is Merrick Garland. But here's one that really stands out: Adam Szubin, who has been nominated to a key Treasury Department post responsible for leading the battle against terrorism and financial crimes. President Obama pointed to the delay in this nomination in his remarks today, because it is particularly deplorable—when Republicans everywhere are questioning this administration's commitment to fighting terrorism—that they're refusing to make this a permanent appointment.
Szubin was nominated more than a year ago—on April 20, 2015. The Banking Committee finally got around to approving his nomination in March of this year, and since March 10, 2016, Szubin has been waiting for a floor vote. What's the problem? say Republicans. He's in the job in an "acting" capacity, anyway. The problem is that an "acting" director doesn't have the weight of a confirmed director. And the problem is that once again Republicans are putting their petty grudge against Obama above doing their job.
Even when it comes to fighting terrorism.
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