On the recordFebruary 6, 2017
we are coming to the conclusion of weeks now of debate on the nominee to be the Attorney General of the United States, and we still have other debates to have on other people before this process ends. In fact, somebody observed this week that you have to go back to the very founding of the government, to the first administration of George Washington, to find a time when it has taken longer to put a Cabinet in place, and George Washington only had to find four people in a government that was just trying to establish itself. But we are taking a maximum amount of time on a Cabinet and a Presidential nomination that usually happen quickly. There has traditionally been an understanding in our country that when the President is elected--the importance of the President being able to put his stamp on the government as quickly as possible. And eventually we will be able to say his or her stamp on the government. But up until now, Presidents have had that opportunity. I read somewhere that from President Garfield right after the Civil War through Franklin Roosevelt, that Cabinets--those were put in place in the first days of every one of those administrations, often even the very first day. What we have seen in this debate is also the questioning of people's motives, not just their decisions.…
