Schumer Trolls McConnell with McConnells own 8 year old letter.

DWags wrote:Schemer uses McConnell's own words in a letter he gave Obama about confirming his nominees. Pubs have already violated the first two the demanded of democrats 8 years ago.


Republicans, who control the Senate, are starting to hold nomination hearings before the nominees have completed background checks and ethics clearances that are traditionally required of Cabinet appointees. These were the first two standards that McConnell demanded of Obama’s Cabinet nominees eight years ago — and that the Obama administration met — when Democrats controlled the Senate

Letter from McConell to Schumer 8 years ago just gets named crossed out and switched.

Shaub actually has no statutory authority to intervene in the confirmation process. His office has no legal role in “clearing” nominees. Clearing nominees is done by the Senate. The sole function of that office is to ensure that government employees covered by the ethics statue comply with the substance of the act, that is, avoiding conflicts of interest, and file the appropriate paperwork. The only legal requirement is simply that the appropriate reports be filed:

5 U.S.C. app. § 101. Persons required to file

(a) Within thirty days of assuming the position of an officer or employee described in subsection (f), an individual shall file a report containing the information described in section
102(b) unless the individual has left another position described in subsection (f) within thirty days prior to assuming such new position or has already filed a report under this title with
respect to nomination for the new position or as a candidate for the position.
Those “employee[s] described in subsection (f)” are the appointees Shaub is bitching about. Their legal requirement is to file forms within 30 days of being confirmed. And then to conform to the directives and advice the OGE gives them if their are real or potential conflicts.

“I am not aware of any occasion in the four decades since OGE was established when the Senate held a confirmation hearing before the nominee had completed the ethics review process,” he said.
This is a statement that The Hill helpfully points out is bullsh**.

The upcoming whirlwind of hearings isn’t the first time the Senate has pushed for such quick confirmations. In 2009, the Democratically controlled Senate confirmed seven of President Barack Obama’s cabinet picks in a single day.