Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we reached a milestone last week with the confirmation of President Trump's 100th Federal judge, and, frankly, it is a milestone that should have come earlier. Had this been another President, it almost undoubtedly would have come earlier. But, unfortunately, the response to this President has been characterized by what the leader aptly referred to yesterday as ``unhinged partisanship.''

Now, 2\1/2\ years on from President Trump's election, Democrats still can't get over the fact that they lost. Somehow, my colleagues missed the section in government class where you learn that is what happens sometimes in democracies. Sometimes you win. Sometimes--and I hate to break it to my colleagues--sometimes you lose. It is not fun. No one likes having their candidate lose, but that is what happens sometimes when you have free elections.

No one expects Democrats to just sign on to everything President Trump says or does. No one expects them to sign on to most of what President Trump says or does. I certainly understand that they have philosophical disagreements with many of his policies. I have been in their position. During my time in public office, there have certainly been Presidents with whom I disagreed a substantial part of the time. I like to think that I didn't reflexively oppose everything they said or did simply because they weren't my preferred candidate for the office. I am fairly certain President Trump couldn't eat a cheese sandwich without some Democrat crying treason.

Well, let's step back a minute. Maybe it is not that my Democratic colleagues are reflexively opposing everything this President does. Maybe it is not unhinged partisanship. Maybe it is just that they disagree with every single word he says, every single thing he does, and every single individual he nominates--except in the case of nominees, at least, we know that isn't true.

Let's go back to those judicial nominations. Democrats have engaged in a truly unprecedented amount of obstruction on President Trump's judicial nominees. As of May 2, Democrats have forced cloture votes on almost 65 percent of President Trump's judicial nominees--65 percent. At the same point in President Obama's first term, Republicans had required cloture votes on just 2\1/2\ percent of his judicial nominees--65 percent to 2\1/2\ percent. But, again, maybe that is because Democrats have serious philosophical objections to these nominees--except they don't, because again and again, Democrats have turned around and voted for the Trump judicial nominees they obstructed.

One egregious example occurred in January of 2018 when Democrats forced the Senate to spend more than a week considering four district court judges even though not one single Democrat voted against their confirmation. That is right. Democrats forced the Senate to spend more than a week considering the nomination of four judges even though not one single Democrat opposed their confirmation. These judges could have been confirmed in a matter of minutes by voice vote, but Democrats forced the Senate to spend more than a week on their consideration-- time that could have been spent on genuinely controversial nominees or on some of the many important issues facing our country.

As of April 2 of this year, Democrats have forced cloture votes on 20 of the district court judges the Senate has confirmed. Ultimately, however, 19 of those 20 judges were confirmed by more than 68 votes. Now, 17 of those 20 were confirmed by more than 80 votes, and 12 of those 20 were confirmed without a single vote in opposition. Yet Democrats obstructed all of them.

One hundred judicial nominees confirmed is a solid milestone, but, as I said before, it is a milestone that should have come earlier and would have come earlier if Democrats hadn't chosen to engage in a massive campaign of partisan obstruction. Despite a lot of hard work by the Judiciary Committee and a robust pace of nominations from the President, the number of judicial vacancies is actually 25 percent higher today than it was when the President took office, and a near record number of those vacancies are designated as judicial emergencies. That shouldn't be the case, but thanks to Democrats' knee- jerk obstruction, that is where we are.

Regardless of how much the Democrats obstruct, though, Republicans will keep moving forward. Despite Democrats' best efforts, we confirmed a record number of circuit court judges during the President's first 2 years, and we are going to keep working our way through the President's nominees, judicial and otherwise. We are committed to filling vacancies in both the executive branch and the judiciary so that the American people have the fully functioning government they deserve.

Perhaps someday Democrats will decide to drop the obstruction and to join us in the business of actually getting things done for the American people.

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