McConnell Dismisses Calls To Slow Confirmation Process: ‘Grow Up’

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Sunday brushed off concerns from the Office of Government Ethics that Republicans were holding confirmation hearings for some of Donald Trump’s nominees before their ethics reviews have been completed.

“Democrats are really frustrated that they lost the election. I was in Sen. Schumer’s situation eight years ago. I know how it feels when you’re coming into a new situation, that the other guys won the election. What did we do? We confirmed seven cabinet appointments the day President Obama was sworn in. We didn’t like most of them either, but he won the election,” McConnell said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” when asked about concerns over the confirmation schedule. “So all of these little procedural complaints are related to their frustration at having not only lost the White House, but having lost the Senate. I understand that. But we need to, sort of, grow up here and get past that.”

The Office of Government Ethics wrote a letter to top Senate Democrats on Saturday warning them that Senate Republicans had scheduled confirmation hearings before the ethics office could complete their reviews of the nominees.

“This schedule has created undue pressure on OGE’s staff and agency ethics officials to rush through these important reviews,” OGE director Walter Shaub Jr. wrote in the letter.

Democrats have also complained that Republicans scheduled six confirmation hearings for Wednesday, the same day Trump will hold his first press conference since the election.

McConnell dismissed concerns about the schedule as an attempt by Democrats to slow the process. However, he did tell CBS News that he wants all records on the nominees completed before their confirmation goes to a vote on the Senate floor.

Watch the interview of McConnell via CBS:

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