Democrats held the Senate floor overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning to protest the nomination of Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Cloture was invoked Wednesday afternoon on a 53-47 party-line vote, limiting debate on the Vought nomination to 30 hours. Democrats decided not to yield time and scheduled speakers to keep the floor occupied through the night.
If all the debate time is used, Vought will likely be confirmed around 7 p.m. Thursday.
“Russell Vought was born to make corruption safe again,” freshman Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said in one of the late-night speeches. “Vought believes that all of the power in the executive branch belongs to the president and the president alone.”
Democratic Sens. Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut took what’s been a bit of a traditional late shift, with Murphy scheduled to keep the floor occupied from 2-5 a.m.
They spoke on a variety of topics, with Schatz at one point focusing on the efforts of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a budget-slashing task force led by billionaire Elon Musk.
“Why doesn’t government run like a business?” Schatz said, referring to questions asked by the “tech bros” now involved with the executive branch decision-making. “Let me tell you why: because if you ran government like a business, you would shut down every rural hospital. If you ran government like a business, you would actually not have a national transportation network.”
As is customary of the all-night talkathons, there was some levity amid the serious discussion. In the ensuing colloquy, Schatz asked Murphy about his evening Mountain Dew consumption.
“Just for the record, Sen. Schatz, it’s Diet Mountain Dew,” Murphy said. “Mountain Dew is disgusting. Diet Mountain Dew is acceptable.”
“I did not know that this whole Senate is powered on Celsius,” Schatz said, referring to the caffeinated beverage that has become ubiquitous on Capitol Hill. “I’ve never had Celsius before, but I was walking around offering people coffee and everyone had a Celsius.”
During the daytime debate Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., highlighted Vought’s qualifications — including having held the same role during Trump’s first term.
“Identifying ways to rein in our spending and to target government waste has to be a priority,” Thune said. “And I’m confident that Mr. Vought will help lead that charge.”
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