What’s Happening:
Since Joe Biden entered office, he’s nominated real losers to his administration. Republicans could not block his picks, because the Senate had enough votes to confirm them.
Often, this meant that Kamala Harris had to cast a tie breaking vote in the 50-50.
But this time around, she was nowhere to be found. While she was busy on the West Coast, one of Biden’s progressives lost her bid.
From The Hill:
The Senate on Wednesday voted against President Biden’s nominee for an assistant secretary post for the Labor Department, with Vice President Harris in Los Angeles and unable to cast a tiebreaking vote.
The upper chamber voted 51-49 to deny Lisa Gomez’s nomination to become assistant secretary for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, with the vote splitting along party lines in the evenly divided Senate.
Because Harris was out of town, Democrats were unable to confirm Biden’s pick for assistant secretary for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.
The final vote was 51-49. Chuck Schumer changed his vote, so he could file a motion to allow him to bring the nomination up again later.
But chances are, this Senate might not have a chance to do this, as we get closer to the midterms.
Harris could have broken the tie, had she been in town. But, thankfully, the Senate never allowed “proxy” voting as the House does.
Senators have to be in-person to cast a vote.
Republicans banded together to block this nominee, because they were concerned about some of her proposals.
Based on past history, Biden has recommended socialist-leaning Democrats to high posts within his administration.
Some of them were so radical, that even Democrats rejected their nominations.
Republicans were in no way going to let a Biden flunky get passed. But without Harris, this nominee was left on a raft without a paddle.
Key Takeaways:
- Harris was absent during a Senate vote, leading to a failed nomination.
- Republicans successfully blocked one of Biden’s picks for the DOJ
Source: The Hill
