On the recordFebruary 6, 2017
I guess, Mr. President, what I don't understand is that we have fairly significant responsibilities under the Constitution to provide advice and consent. It appears that the ruling of the Chair has just been that when a Member of this body is the subject of that advice and consent, then derogatory information about that person is not in order and is a violation of rule XIX on the Senate floor. And with that being the ruling, I don't know how we go about doing our duties. Are we supposed to simply blind ourselves to derogatory information, discuss it privately in the cloak rooms, not bring it out onto the floor of the U.S. Senate, this supposedly great debating society that actually has a constitutional responsibility to discuss both the advantages and the deficits of a particular nominee? The PRESIDING OFFICER. In each case, it is the opinion of the President, subject to the final vote by the Senate to support or not to support the President's decision.
