Thursday, during an appearance on Newsmax TV, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) said that while she understood the frustration from the "unprecedented obstruction" from her Democrat colleagues, she said, based on Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) comments, the votes were not there to end the filibuster.
Ending the filibuster could allow Senate Republicans to pass a continuing resolution to end the federal government shutdown.
"Look, the president made a very compelling case yesterday," Britt said. "It is clear why he is frustrated. We have unprecedented obstruction from Democrats, and he's had it since day one. I mean, if you look at the nomination process and the fact that by us not changing — we had to change the rules, actually, to be able to get his nominees through. If you remember, he didn't have one nominee as of September go through by voice vote or unanimous consent, whereas Barack Obama, at that time in his presidency had 292 that had. That's just one indicator of the fact that they want to put up every roadblock possible for him enacting his agenda."
"Look, Leader [John] Thune has said that the votes are not there. So right now, what I am working on is another pathway forward," she said. "I have been working with our colleagues — Susan Collins as chair of the Appropriations Committee, but our colleagues across the aisle to say, 'Let's get back to doing the work of the American people.' Let's get some of these bills through and take these things off the table so Democrats can't use them as leverage moving forward."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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