Conservative senators have sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) demanding that lawmakers confirm President Donald Trump’s 271 outstanding nominations and pass a spending bill before the August recess or skip the break altogether.
“We continue to witness historic obstruction by the minority party when it comes to funding the federal government and confirming the president’s nominees,” the letter said. “If we are complicit we are on the track for another last-minute spending battle come September.”
“However, if we take action now, we can break the cycle of continuing resolutions and omnibus spending deals,” the letter said. “Therefore, we want to offer our full support to expedite floor consideration, even if we must work nights and weekends and forgo the August recess to get it done.”
Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) spearheaded the letter, which was also signed by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Dean Heller (R-NV), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
“President Trump said he would never sign another massive omnibus bill again,” Perdue told Breitbart News. “Congress only has 66 days to get next year’s funding bill to President Trump’s desk.”
“We need to take action now so President Trump is not jammed with another bad funding deal,” Perdue said. “We ought to work as long as it takes – including nights, weekends, and through the August recess if necessary – to get funding done and make progress on the backlog of nominees.”
“At this pace, it is unlikely the president will have all of his nominees confirmed before the end of his term,” the letter said.
“We and the American people expect Congress to work tirelessly to restore American greatness,” the letter said. “The president has outlined an agenda that will unleash economic growth, strengthen our military, and rebuild our infrastructure.”
“We play a critical role in advancing this agenda, so together let’s make Congress work again,” the letter concludes.
The senators are getting help with their #MakeCongressWorkAgain campaign, including from the Tea Party Patriots and the Conservative Partnership Institute, which posted about Congress’sshort work week and lack of productivity on its Facebook page.
“The U.S. Senate recessed at 3 p.m. Thursday, with no votes until 5 p.m. Monday,” the post said. “Most weeks, the Senate only works 2 1/2 days. Do you think Congress should be in D.C. working on President Trump’s nominations and policies like funding the border wall?”
As Breitbart News reported, Perdue, Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots; Marc Short; White House director of legislative affairs and former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who now works with CPI, held a press conference on Capitol Hill this week to launch the #MakeCongressWorkAgain campaign.
“We’re here today to demand that Congress do its work and get its work done on time on nominations and on spending,” Martin said at the press conference. “If they haven’t passed all spending bills by the end of July they should cancel the August recess.”
“And if Congress hasn’t confirmed President Trump’s nominees by the end of July they should cancel the August recess,” Martin said.
“We all know that if Congress goes home in August without passing the funding bills, the same thing is going to happen that just happened,” DeMint said at the press conference, referring to the $1.3 trillion spending bill Congress recently passed.
“He’s going to be given a choice in late September to either sign another bill or to close the government down right before the election,” DeMint said. “Those are unacceptable options.”
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