Kellyanne says Senate Democrats are 'a bunch of crybabies' as they boycott ANOTHER cabinet confirmation hearing and the GOP muscles through a vote for Trump's EPA chief
- Senior Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway said on 'Fox & Friends' that Senate Democrats are 'a bunch of crybabies'
- They have boycotted committee votes on three different cabinet nominees
- Conway blasted Dems for declaring their opposition to the president's Supreme Court pick this week before his identity was announced
- 'There's no gradation of hysteria. It's – everything makes them cry and scream'
- Hours later Democrats boycotted a committee vote to advance Trump's nominee to lead the EPA; the GOP suspended the rules and forced the vote through
Donald Trump's chief West Wing counselor labeled Democrats 'a bunch of crybabies' on Thursday, mocking their decision to boycott a series of Senate votes to confirm the president's cabinet nominees.
Hours later, Senate Democrats refused to show up for a vote on Scott Pruitt, whom Trump has chosen to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
'The Democratic Party – we're seeing it unravel in front of our eyes,' Conway said on 'Fox & Friends,' bashing them for 'obstinance and obstruction.'
'I think it's going to cost them because they're hysterical about everything now,' she jabbed.
'There's no gradation of hysteria. It's – everything makes them cry and scream.'
Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to President Donald Trump, castigated Senate Democrats on Thursday as 'crybabies' for boycotting a series of cabinet secretary votes
Trump's EPA director nominee Scott Pruitt found himself in limbo on Wednesday after Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Democrats boycotted his hearing, but Republicans muscled a vote through on Thursday when none of them showed up to participate again
Pruitt (pictured) has answered 'more than a thousand questions' as part of his confirmation process, according to Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe
On Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah suspended a rule that prevents a vote when only one party's members are present.
After a Senate parliamentarian said the rule change was permissible, a Republican-only panel voted unanimously to advance the nominations of Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Rep. Tom Price.
Thursday saw a repeat performance, with Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso suspending his committee's rules while Democrats' 10 chairs remained empty.
Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, who has chaired the Environment and Public Works Committee in the past, called it 'extremely disappointing that my Democrat colleagues once again boycotted this vote.'
'Pruitt has been more than accommodating, answering more than a thousand questions; his hearing was the most comprehensive hearing in recorded history and, as I have said many times, Scott went above and beyond to appease the minority panel,' he said.
In 2013, GOP members of the same committee boycotted a similar committee meeting on Gina McCarthy, President Obama's then-nominee for EPA administrator.
McCarthy was eventually approved by the Senate, serving in the post until Trump's inauguration 13 days ago.
Conway blasted Democrats, though, for 'holding up our nominees to the cabinet.'
Democratic seats on the Finance Committee were empty on Wednesday for a second day as the party's members boycotted confirmation votes for Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin and HHS nominee Tom Price
Sen. Orrin Hatch, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, blasted Democrats on Wednesday for choosing to 'cower in the hallway' instead of voting on two nominees
'I was told yesterday, this is the longest that the nation has gone without a secretary of the Treasury, at least in modern times. If it's not the longest, it's darn close to it,' she said.
'We need a secretary of [the] Treasury, folks, for those who actually go to work in the morning and need the dollar to flourish. We need a secretary of [the] Treasury to be running things.'
She also bashed Senate Democrats Thursday morning for announcing their opposition to Trump's Supreme Court nominee before they knew who he would choose.
The called them 'a bunch of crybabies who say that they're going to oppose supreme court nominees before they even know the person's name and his academic credentials and impeccable judicial record.'
On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee – with Democrats present – cleared Sen. Jeff Sessions for a full floor vote on his attorney general nomination by an 11-9 tally.
Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Rep. Tom Price (left) and Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary designate (right) were both boycott targets earlier in the week
Conway said Thursday on Fox News that the Democratic Party has begun to 'unravel in front of our eyes'
But the bigger news was a visibly irritated chairman Hatch castigating his Democratic colleagues.
'There's no excuse for what they did yesterday, and there's no excuse for not coming today,' the normally reserved Hatch told reporters in the Finance Committee hearing room, saying Democrats played 'a cheap political ploy, and they should be ashamed.'
'Republicans on this committee showed up to do our jobs. Yesterday, rather than accept anything less than their desired outcome, our Democrat colleagues chose to cower in the hallway and hold a press conference,' he said during a brief hearing, justifying the decision to move ahead and vote without them.
'We took some unprecedented actions today due to the unprecedented obstruction on the part of our colleagues,' he said from his seat in the hearing room.
'Now, I get that my colleagues think these nominees are controversial,' Hatch added. 'I get that they don’t want to see them confirmed. We’ve all been in that situation. It comes part and parcel with the job of being a senator.'
Hatch had already vented his anger at Democrats on Tuesday, saying they were 'posturing and acting like idiots' and saying he was 'tired of this type of crap.'
Democrats had said they boycotted Tuesday's session because they needed more information about the two nominees' past financial transactions, saying they had misled Congress about their backgrounds.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, had said the men would hold positions 'that directly affect peoples' lives every day. The truth matters.'
Democrats cited one report in The Wall Street Journal that Price received a special, discounted offer to buy stock in a biomedical company, which contradicted his testimony to Congress.
They said another report in The Columbus Dispatch showed documents revealing that Mnuchin had not been truthful with the Senate in the confirmation process in comments about how his bank OneWest had handled home foreclosures.
The Democratic National Committee said Wednesday in a statement that 'Senate Republicans had to break the rules and force these two nominees through the committee for one reason: they have no answer for the lies and serious ethics problems of Tom Price and Steven Mnuchin.'
Republicans have supported both men.
The DNC defended Senate Democrats' refusal to take part in Pruitt's proceedings, saying the Oklahoma attorney general has hidden information pointing to conflicts of interest.
Hatch accused Democrats of 'a lack of desire to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.'
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