Ten Republican members of the United States Senate are pledging to slow Democrat bills and Biden nominees making their way through the upper chamber in response to former President Donald Trump's conviction last week in New York.
Led by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), the pledge blasts the Biden White House for making "a mockery of the rule of law" and taking action that has "fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways."
"As a Senate Republican conference, we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart," the pledge continues. "To that end, we will not 1) allow any increase to non-security related funding for this administration, or any appropriations bill which funds partisan lawfare; 2) vote to confirm this administration's political and judicial appointees; and 3) allow expedited consideration and passage of Democrat legislation or authorities that are not directly relevant to the safety of the American people."
🚨 🚨 🚨
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 3, 2024
Salute to @SenJoniErnst for joining our pledge to bring the Biden agenda to a screeching halt.
The time for talk is done. Democrat partisan lawfare will not go unanswered. pic.twitter.com/q53vUv1n8s
The pledge, which is at least likely to create some pain for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), was signed — as of Monday morning — by Lee along with Senators J.D. Vance (R-OH), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Joni Ernst (R-IA).
Lee has said the letter remains open for now and urged other members to sign on.
As Axios noted in its report on the pledge, the Senators' protest is "unlikely to be enough to fully block action in the Democrat-controlled chamber, but it could slow things down." Politico added that the response to Trump's conviction and ongoing prosecution could cause Schumer headaches, "particularly for nominations."
"So far this year, about half of non-military and non-Foreign Service nominees have been confirmed by voice vote, which requires agreement from all 100 senators and skips time-consuming procedural steps," Politico's report explained. "Schumer could be forced to trudge through cloture votes and debate, eating up precious floor time that he might prefer to expend on election-year messaging bills..."
Editor's Note: This story was updated to reflect additional senators signing on to the pledge.
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