Tonight’s hearing w/ Betsy DeVos made one thing clear: Senate Democrats clearly expect President-elect Trump’s nominees to be held to a different standard than President Obama’s nominees.
January 18, 2017
Democrats Double-Standard
Tonight’s hearing w/ Betsy DeVos made one thing clear: Senate Democrats clearly expect President-elect Trump’s nominees to be held to a different standard than President Obama’s nominees.
Watch this video of Democrats complaining about a lack of time to ask questions to DeVos, despite the fact that her hearing was more than an hour longer than both of President Obama’s nominees for Education Secretary:
Democrats’ Double-Standard (1:36)
ON-SCREEN TEXT: “Democrats’ Double-Standard: Whining About Time”
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (2017): “I think this is a real shame. This rush job. This inability to allow the public to see this debate…”
ON-SCREEN TEXT: “Obama Nominee Arne Duncan (2009) – Total Hearing Time: 2 Hours, 2 Min
SEN. TOM HARKIN (2009): “Well Mr. Duncan thank you very much for being so candid and again, my thanks for your willingness to take on this task.”
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (2017): “I am very fond of you and I am very fond of this Committee, and I don’t recall ever being told that I could never have a second round in a hearing as a matter of principle before.”
SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (2017): “I hope that we will get additional opportunity to ask questions. I would like it to be, not in writing, but to give the American people a chance to hear the exchange and the responses.”
ON-SCREEN TEXT: “Obama Nominee John King (2016) – Total Hearing Time: 2 Hours, 17 Min
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (2016): “I just simply wanted to thank Dr. King for being here today. This is such an important time for students of all ages and with all the challenges and opportunities, and you’ve heard them across the board here, it is really important that we have strong leadership at the Department of Education.”
SEN. AL FRANKEN (2017): “And here, virtually every member of the minority is asking to ask more questions and that’s a very substantial difference.”
ON-SCREEN TEXT: “Trump Nominee Betsy DeVos (2017) – Total Hearing Time: 3 Hours, 25 Min
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (2017): “This hearing started at 5:15, it’s 8:15. That’s 3 hours and 5 minutes of questions. This is already 3 hours and we’re not finished yet.”
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (2017): “Mr. Chairman, I cannot help but think that if my friends on the other side of the aisle had used their time to ask questions rather than complaining about the lack of a second round, they each would have been able to get in a second question.”