“The confirmation of nominees is one of the most important responsibilities we have, and it’s a big part of our system of checks and balances,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who bucked the tough electoral environment for the Democrats to significantly outperform the presidential ticket in Minnesota and win her fourth term. Presidents of both parties, she said, have had nominees lose support after their first confirmation hearings and eventually withdraw.
Loyalty is important, acknowledged Klobuchar. But, she cautioned, “if that’s the only criteria then that’s a problem.” Minnesota’s senior senator said she sizes up cabinet candidates “in a normal fashion, which is to say: Is this someone who’s qualified to do their work, and are they going to live up to the expectations of running that department?”
If that answer is affirmative, Klobuchar said she “tries to find a way to ‘yes,’” as she did with Trump appointees like Pompeo for CIA chief, Elaine Chao for transportation secretary, and others. This doesn’t mean she agrees “with every single thing they said,” Klobuchar explained. “But are they going to be able to perform the duties of that agency as we know it?”
The Senate as we knew it doesn’t always, or even often, work this way anymore. And indeed, Trump has already called for a compliant Congress by demanding that those seeking to be the next Senate majority leader allow him to make some recess appointments that would bypass the confirmation process.
Consistently yielding to such a degree would circumvent senators’ crucial role in maintaining coequal branches of government and potentially create crises of governance on multiple fronts that do a disservice to the administration and America itself.
At the same time, senators would be best served by taking Klobuchar’s approach of principled consideration, not reflexive rejection or acceptance, of nominees or other legislation that may advance American interests regardless of which party the people or the policy comes from. Such moderation can actually create clout, the kind Klobuchar has earned in her Senate career. She should use it effectively in the coming weeks to concurrently hold her fellow senators accountable to their key constitutional duty. Because politics isn’t just about Election Day, but governance every day thereafter.
