On the recordJune 6, 2018
in the last 24 hours, Senator McConnell announced that the Senate will still be in session in August. I don't know of any Senator who loves being in Washington, DC, in August. Quite frankly, it is a hot, humid, miserable place. I would much rather be in Oklahoma with other folks whom I serve, getting to spend some time there. The Senate is in session 11 months of the year. The only month we are not in session traditionally is August. But we have a problem. The work is not getting done in the Senate. If the options are to be in Washington, DC, and get the work done or to be back in my State and see the folks in my State but knowing that the legislative work is undone, then the decision should be to get the work done. Senator McConnell announced yesterday that in August we will be here. We have two big issues as the reason we should be here in August to get some things done. One is the nominations issue. This is an issue that has, quite frankly, picked up a lot of speed this year. Last year in our nominations process, we had a record slow process to try to get nominations through. This year, more nominations have gotten through. Let me give an example of what we are up against. In the past 6 Presidents, there have been a total of 25 cloture votes for nominations in the first 2 years of the Presidency--25 total, all 6 combined. Right now, President Trump is at 100 cloture votes so far for his nominations. You may say, what is the big deal about that?…





