Why the rush? Because, as the always-melodramatic senior senator from New York said:
“In the midst of this once-in-a-century crisis, it’s imperative the next administration can count on the Senate to confirm its cabinet without delay.”
I don’t want to waste time going through the history of crises in America over the last 100 years, but c’mon, Chuck. #TryHarder
Schumer noted that the Senate began hearings in early January for presidents-elect Obama and Trump — leaving out the fact that the elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump had been certified before the Senate leader of their respective parties called for confirmation hearings to begin prior to the inauguration.
So why would Schumer have a need to call for the hearings since they’ve happened with the last two administrations? Sounds like SOP. Oh, wait — because he knows half of America doesn’t accept Biden as president-elect, with good reason: unlike Obama and Trump, Biden has not been certified as president-elect.
Nonetheless, Schumer not only called on the Senate to begin confirmation hearings after the Georgia runoff elections; he torched Trump’s cabinet picks in the process.
“President-elect Biden’s slate of nominees provides a stark contrast to the caliber of nominees advanced by the current Trump administration over the last four years.
“The early days of the Trump presidency were defined by high-level appointments of individuals who were manifestly unqualified, plagued by ethical complaints, or swimming in conflicts of interest — sometimes all three.”
So Schumer thinks that throwing the entirety of Trump’s four years of cabinet selections under the bus is going to help him win support from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republicans how? Why he wouldn’t just be grandstanding for the cameras, right?
“At the time, Republicans in the Senate lined up to confirm President Trump’s appointments, Schumer continued, “arguing that a president deserves his cabinet in broad deference on his nominees.
“I would hope the same deference will be extended to president-elect Biden’s nominees, he added, before once again taking a shot at Trump’s cabinet selections, “especially considering the obvious gulf in quality, experience, [and] ethics.”
I won’t waste time defending good people like Dr. Ben Carson, Steve Mnuchin, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, and others, but I will note the “caliber” of a few of Biden’s selections.
Biden’s choice for secretary of state, longtime aide Antony Blinken, slammed President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy as “a mix of nationalism, unilateralism, and xenophobia,” that would only “make the world worse.” That didn’t age well, did it? (See: “The Middle East,” for example.)
Biden’s selection for director of the Office of Management and Budget is Neera Tandan, who in 2016 spread wild conspiracy theories about Russian vote-hackers, all the while denying that Hillary Clinton lost the election.
Next up, Biden’s pick for national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, was up to his eyebrows in the Hillary Clinton email scandal, and also pushed the thoroughly-discredited Russian “collusion” hoax.
Finally — for now, that is — Biden tapped Phil Washington, CEO of LA Metro, the agency that runs Greater Los Angeles’s trains, subways, and buses, to lead his transportation transition team. Just one problem. LA Metro is currently the focus of two ongoing federal investigations.
Hey, nobody’s perfect — right, Chucky?
#ProTip for Schumer: Come back when Joe has his election certification card and then we’ll talk about it. Until then, take a seat.
H/T ~ Twitchy