John Hickenlooper: “I would like, first, to recognize the great Senator from New Jersey, Senator Cory Booker. It is never easy or fair to…”

“I would like, first, to recognize the great Senator from New Jersey, Senator Cory Booker. It is never easy or fair to speak after him. But I take the floor today to urge my colleagues to vote no on President Trump's nominee for the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought. Some remember Mr. Vought from when he served as the head of the same Agency during President Trump's first term. He is one of the very few repeat appointments--clearly, a reflection of his loyalty. You may also know him for his leadership, his authoring of Project 2025--that far-right agenda that the President, during the campaign, swore up and down he had no idea about. I would leave it at that, although, I think he understood many discussions, perhaps, outlined in the framework. Project 2025 would gut our longstanding and globally admired framework of checks and balances. It would gut them. It would ensure civil servants will be hired and fired on the basis of political loyalty--something that this country has struggled for many decades to get rid of. It would truly weaponize our system of justice--again, something that almost everyone works toward keeping nonpartisan. It lays out in detail the plan to dramatically change our American system of government, perhaps for a very long time. It is truly not a question of if anymore. The plan and the people putting it in place are disregarding laws and norms dating back to the Constitution.…”