Schumer's credibility becomes an issue on Senate confirmation of Trump nominees

Weekly Standard:
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According to six sources familiar with the negotiations over Pompeo's confirmation, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Republican leaders that he would allow Pompeo to be confirmed by voice vote on Inauguration Day, along with two other Trump nominees who have national security responsibilities. But Schumer broke his promise, these sources say, and offered an insulting excuse for having done so.

"Trust is important, even between adversaries," says Senator John Cornyn, one of the Republicans involved in the discussions. "And that trust has been damaged."

The story begins in early January, before the Senate held a single confirmation hearing for any of Trump's nominees. Senate Republicans scheduled six confirmation hearings for January 11, a Wednesday. The schedule complicated the plans of Senate Democrats, who had hoped to mount challenges to several Trump nominees – or at least create news by attacking them. Too many hearings would spread thin the coverage of made-for-media battles. So Democrats formally objected. "Not acceptable. I've told that to Mitch McConnell," Schumer said in an interview with Politico. "I don't think my members would find what they did appropriate or acceptable."

According to sources familiar with the discussions, Schumer asked his Republican colleagues to delay Pompeo's hearing for one day. "Democrats asked that the hearing be moved so that six hearings did not occur on one day," says a senior Democratic senate aide. "That many cabinet hearings in a single day had only happened once in American history, and it was an unfair schedule to senators on both sides. Republicans accommodated that request."
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McConnell consulted Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, Intel committee member Tom Cotton, and the incoming Trump administration. Republicans agreed to delay Pompeo, whose team was happy to have an extra day to prepare. But the Republicans had a condition. If we agree to push back Pompeo's hearing for a day, they told Schumer, you must agree to include him in the group of national security officials who will be confirmed by a voice vote on Inauguration Day, January 20. According to these sources, Schumer agreed, with alacrity, having secured the delay he'd sought.
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The Senate reconvened after the inaugural ceremonies on Friday, with Pompeo's nomination set to come up at 4:50pm. Cotton angrily confronted Schumer about his broken promise. According to witnesses, Schumer told Cotton to lower his voice and asked him move off of the Senate floor to an adjacent hallway for a private discussion. "We need to take this out into the hallway," Schumer said. Cotton walked with Schumer but loudly rejected his first request. "Don't tell me to lower my voice!" he shouted, with an additional salty admonition tacked on for emphasis. Burr and Cornyn were present, as was Senator Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and several aides.

Schumer told Cotton that the Senate had never previously confirmed a CIA director on Inauguration Day and if Cotton had been around eight years earlier, he'd know that Republicans didn't extend that courtesy for incoming president Barack Obama. "Eight years ago, I was getting my ass shot at in Afghanistan," Cotton snapped. "So don't talk to me about where I was 8 years ago."

Cotton asked Schumer why he'd gone back on his word. Schumer claimed that he'd only been speaking for himself when he promised to let Pompeo through. "I said that I would not block him," Schumer said, emphasizing the personal pronoun, according to sources who witnessed the exchange. "I never said that I could speak for 47 other Democrats."
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There is more.

Schumer apparently made a commitment his caucus would not agree to.  It appears to have done enormous damage to his credibility as a deal maker with Republicans.

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