Donald Trump has had a lot of unqualified, offensive, and downright outrageous nominees. Take the one who has suggested that coal ended slavery. That’s Kathleen Hartnett White, who Trump renominated this week. Democrats were aghast:
“Kathleen Hartnett White was completely unprepared and appeared totally unqualified last time around,” [Sen. Sheldon] Whitehouse told HuffPost in an email. “If Republicans take their advice and consent responsibilities seriously, Chairman [Sen. John] Barrasso [R-Wyo.] will call her before the Environment and Public Works Committee for another hearing. She needs to address serious questions about her record, like how she plagiarized previous nominees in answering the Committee’s simple written questions and didn’t understand high-school level scientific principles.”
Sen. Tom Carper (Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, slammed the renomination of Hartnett White in a statement on Monday.
“Kathleen Hartnett White’s disdain for science and basic facts is clear and poses a serious threat to the health of our environment and the American people,” Carper said. “Her statements are wildly inappropriate and her extreme stances have elicited serious concerns on both sides of the aisle and across the country. It is virtually impossible to find anyone who can, after watching Ms. White’s hearing, sincerely say that she is well-qualified for the important job to which she has been nominated.
“In the 17 years I have been in the Senate, I have never sat through a hearing as excruciating as Ms. White’s,” he continued.
And this is the administration that brought us a judicial nominee who couldn't answer questions a law student should know. Though to be fair, Carper is not on the Judiciary Committee.