Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Monday accused Republicans of attempting to “nullify” agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by filibustering nominees to lead them.
“That’s what we’re talking about here — we’re talking about the nullification of laws already on the books through the abuse of the Senate’s power to advise and consent to nominations,” he said on the floor. “Read your history books about nullification. One of the issues that we fought the Civil War over — could states nullify on their own, federal laws. What we’re seeing here are the Republicans saying we can nullify the essence of laws or what boards are supposed to do by abusing the advise and consent clause of the Constitution. It’s appalling, and something has to change.”
Harkin’s remarks come as Senate Democratic leaders are threatening a rules change with a simple majority vote — the so-called nuclear option — if Republicans filibuster seven pending nominees to the executive branch.
