Amid a standoff in the Senate that left Republican lawmakers struggling to confirm dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees, the commander in chief blasted Democrat Chuck Schumer, telling the Senate minority leader in a fiery social media post to “go to hell,” Knewz.com can report. In the wake of the outburst, with senators unable to get a deal done to advance Trump’s picks, they headed back to their home states for an August recess.
Tensions mount
Trump wanted his nominees for lower-level positions in his administration approved quickly. So Senate Majority Leader John Thune engaged in negotiations with Democrats, who’ve been using their power to slow down consent votes. But before Schumer would agree to speed things up, he wanted federal funds for the National Institutes of Health, foreign aid and other programs to be unfrozen, reports suggest, as well as an agreement confirming Trump wouldn’t try to push through another rescissions package to cut federal funding as Republicans did earlier in the summer. An unhappy Trump took to social media to claim Democrats were making “egregious and unprecedented” demands before they would “approve a small number of our highly qualified nominees.”
Trump goes off
As talks hit a wall, Trump unleashed his fury in a post on Truth Social. “Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” he wrote. “Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country. Have a great RECESS.”
Schumer reacts
During a news conference, Schumer insisted Democrats were “serious” about finding a “reasonable path” to get Trump’s nominations considered and that Dems and Republicans were actually “getting close on a whole lot of issues.” He blamed Trump for “[pulling] the rug out from under people,” lamenting that “in a fit of rage, Trump threw in the towel, sent Republicans home, and was unable to do the basic work of negotiating. Is this The Art of the Deal?” the New York senator asked, name-dropping Trump’s famous business-advice book.
Thune reacts
According to Thune, “The asks evolved on both sides quite a bit over time,” but ultimately, Republicans and Democrats “never got to a place where we had both sides agreed to lock it in.” The South Dakota senator further told reporters Republicans were considering making changes to the rules so they could speed up the confirmation process when lawmakers return in September. “There’s going to be some conversations around how to fix this over the course of the next month, and I think that I would say that’s a distinct possibility,” he said. Schumer countered that “it would be a huge mistake” for Republicans to attempt to change Senate rules.
The post Trump explodes at Senate’s top Democrat: ‘Go to hell!’ appeared first on Knewz.
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Author: Marisa Laudadio
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