Hours of tense negotiations to strike a deal on President Donald Trump’s nominees broke down Saturday night, sending lawmakers home frustrated.
Senate Republicans and Democrats quickly blamed each other for the talks falling apart, but it was President Trump who effectively ended the discussions.
In a lengthy post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of “demanding over One Billion Dollars in order to approve a small number of our highly qualified nominees.”
“This demand is egregious and unprecedented, and would be embarrassing to the Republican Party if it were accepted. It is political extortion, by any other name,” Trump said. “Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!”
“Do not accept the offer,” he continued. “Go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country. Have a great RECESS and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Rather than vote on as many as 60 of the president’s nominees, all of whom had bipartisan committee approval, senators swiftly voted on just seven before leaving Washington until September.
Schumer framed Trump’s exit as a win for Democrats. He said the president abandoned negotiations while he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., were still working toward a bipartisan solution — contingent on the White House and Senate Republicans meeting their demands.
“He took his ball, he went home, leaving Democrats and Republicans alike wondering what the hell happened,” Schumer said, standing next to a large poster of Trump’s post.
“Trump’s all-caps Tweet said it all,” he added. “In a fit of rage, Trump threw in the towel, sent Republicans home, and was unable to do the basic work of negotiating.”
Before Trump’s message, both parties believed they were close to an agreement that would confirm nominees while addressing funding and political concerns.
Thune revealed there were “lots of offers” exchanged between him and Schumer during negotiations.
“There were several different times where I think either or both sides maybe thought there was a deal in the end,” he said.
Senate Democrats had asked the White House to unfreeze billions in National Institute of Health and foreign aid funding, along with a future promise that no additional clawback packages would come from the White House.
In return, they would approve several of Trump’s non-controversial nominees.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., accused Schumer of escalating demands beyond reason.
“We’ve had three different deals since last night,” Mullin said. “And every time it’s been, every time it’s ‘I want more,’” referring to Schumer’s demands.
Republicans were not surprised by Trump’s decision to end talks and noted the White House had been actively involved.
“You get to a realization that there was, it was never about making a deal,” Mullin said. “They want to go out and say the President’s being unrealistic, and because he can’t answer to his base to make a deal like we have in every other president in history.”
Now, Republicans won’t pursue recess appointments, but Mullin noted they plan to push for rule changes to the confirmation process when Congress returns in September.
Thune said the “asks evolved on both sides quite a bit over time,” but “in the end, we never got to a place where we had both sides agree to lock it in.”
Democrats argued their offer was consistent, while Republicans kept expanding the list of nominees and including more contentious picks.
Schumer declined to detail his demands but warned any changes to Senate rules would be a “huge mistake.” He urged Trump to collaborate with Senate Democrats moving forward as Congress faces another deadline to fund the government in September.
“They should stop listening to him,” Schumer said. “If they want to do what’s good for the American people, they shouldn’t be in blind obeisance to Donald Trump.”
