U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., all voted against the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state on Wednesday.
The former ExxonMobil CEO won confirmation on a 56-43 vote, with U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, the only New England senator backing him for the job.
Leahy also voted against U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to be attorney general in an 11-9 Senate Judiciary Committee vote advancing his nomination.
Later in the day Leahy, a top Democrat on the judiciary panel, took to the Senate floor to outline his position on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nomination of Appeals Court Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Leahy said Republicans’ refusal last year to even consider then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the high court “was shameful, and corrosive for our system of government,” and made clear Gorsuch will come under close scrutiny.
“From my initial review of his record, I question whether Judge Gorsuch meets the high standard set by Merrick Garland, whose decisions were squarely within the mainstream. And with the ideological litmus test that President Trump has applied in making this selection, the American people are justified to wonder whether Judge Gorsuch can truly be an independent justice,” Leahy said.
Leahy also pointed out that Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by more than 2.8 milion votes and said, “The president’s Electoral College victory — far narrower than either of President Obama’s victories — is hardly a mandate for any Supreme Court nominee who would turn back the clock on the rights of women, LGBT Americans, or minorities.
“After Republicans’ unprecedented obstruction last year, I do not want to hear Republicans now say that we must rush to confirm Judge Gorsuch,” Leahy added.
Meanwhile, Shaheen took to the Senate floor to denounce Trump’s temporary ban on migrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, noting it had caught up the Iranian-born wife of a Dartmouth-Hitchcock physician.
“By singling out Muslim-majority countries and banning their citizens’ entry to the United States, and by denying entry to all refugees, the president has gravely damaged America’s image across the world,” Shaheen said. “Perhaps worst of all, this executive order is a gift to ISIS, Al Qaida, and every other radical jihadist group.”
In other opposition to Trump nominees, Norwich native Zephyr Teachout this week said she has converted her New York congressional campaign committee to what she is calling the “AntiCorruption League” to “fight against corruption and cronyism.” Teachout on Wednesday was trying to line up voters in key swing states to call their senators after two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said they would vote against the nomination of Republican activist Betsy DeVos to be education secretary.
For his part, Sanders on Wednesday tweeted out a video saying a grassroots movement is needed to stand up to Trump and his policies. “Being on the defensive is not good enough. We also have to be on the offensive,” Sanders said, advocating for such issues as a $15 minimum wage and expanded Social Security.
Orange House Race to Be Recounted
Members of the Vermont House on Wednesday spent six hours debating a proposed recount of the Orange 1 House race before deciding to do so, largely along party lines. The district represents the towns of Chelsea, Vershire, Corinth, Washington, Williamstown and Orange. State Rep. Bob Frenier, R-Chelsea, defeated then-state Rep. Susan Hatch Davis, P-Washington, by 7 votes, but she asked her former colleagues for a recount.
Earlier this week, the Vermont Municipal Clerks’ and Treasurers’ Association encouraged Vermont residents to call their lawmakers and oppose any recount by legislators, noting that a court and recounts last fall certified the same outcome, with the change of only one vote. “We firmly believe this (move for a House recount) is undermining the integrity of all Town and City Clerks as well as the Justices of the Peace, that are elected to serve as members of the Board of Civil Authority,” the clerks group said.
Briefly Noted
Yes, it’s early, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich clearly is positioning himself for another White House run in 2020. Kasich, who finished second in the New Hampshire GOP primary to Trump, is coming out with a book entitled, Two Paths: America Divided or United. The wrong path he says, “exploits anger, encourages resentment, turns fear into hatred and divides people. This path solves nothing, demeans our history, weakens our country and cheapens each of us. It has but one beneficiary and that is to the politician who speaks of it.”
The small museum honoring the late Ray Burton, the longest-serving executive councilor in New Hampshire history, has moved from his hometown of Bath. Plymouth State University will now house archives and displays from the Raymond S. Burton Museum and Learning Center at its Lamson Library.
John P. Gregg can be reached at 603-727-3217 or jgregg@vnews.com.