Bipartisan Effort Pushing for a Gay Trump Appointee

When will the first openly gay appointee of the Trump administration be confirmed by the Senate? This delay calls into questions regarding the effectiveness of Senate rules.

From posts of ambassadorships to deputies at agencies, President Trump’s nominations have been delayed because of the stalling of confirmation hearings. Richard Grenell is one of the nominees for the ambassadorship to Germany and is one of the only openly gay appointee of President Trump. He has attracted support for confirmation from both factions along the political spectrum.

According to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from last October, he has the potential to pass the entire Senate for his confirmation. However, he, like other nominees, too face the same challenge of parliamentary tactics and traps.

Mr. Grenell has received some wariness and caution regarding his Tweets that are at times caustic and very straightforward. Despite this concern, he has received bipartisan support from two groups that lie at the opposite ends of the spectrum, binding the conservatives and gay rights activists together in this push.

Gay rights activists have expressed vehement passion and advocacy of pushing for Mr. Grenell’s confirmation. Stuart Milk, who is a prominent gay civil rights pioneer in California, commented that the confirmation of Mr. Grenell would “send an important message” about the gay community that is especially important and precious in the Trump administration. He also said that “it would be a huge void” if the nomination continues to be stalled.

Others have also vocalized criticism regarding the stalling in the nominee’s confirmation, calling it “an embarrassment”. Parliamentary procedures require the confirmation of a nominee would take at least thirty hours of debate, which would occupy the Senate for almost the entirety of a business week. The setup of Senate rules has made this delay inevitable.

Mr. Grenell has been the longest-serving spokesman for America at the United Nations and worked with many United States ambassadors. Mr. Grenell has expressed his commitment to the ambassadorship and rejected the notion of joining other agencies.

Last week, the Senate majority leader has requested Mr. Grenell to move forward in his confirmation process with unanimous consent. This procedure, however, would require the voice vote of Senator Jeff Merkley, the Democrat of Oregon and he refused to advance the nomination, stalling the confirmation yet again.

Some Democrats have attributed to this delay in Mr. Grenell’s vocal and caustic Tweets in the past. Most specifically, he called out biased journalists for not reporting the findings from the leaked emails of John D. Podesta, who was the campaign chairman for Hillary Clinton.

Other pushbacks include the dismissal of Mr. Grenell as a gay rights avatar. Hilary Rosen, who is a Democratic strategist of a firm, has been a loyal supporter of gay rights. Yet she has expressed the sentiment that she doesn’t think “having Richard at the table helps the movement one bit.” She also commented that “President Trump announced his plan to discriminate against trans troops fighting their country and Grenell, still waiting for his seat at a homophobic table, stayed silent.”

The Democrats have also been blamed by Republicans for the continuing stalling for confirmation on the nominees. The White House has also vocally blamed the Democratic leader, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, for the delay.

Many believe that it’s the Democrats’ effort or lack of effort that’s limiting the progress in nominations while others have also stated that the Senate needs to change its rules and traditions to speed up the process.

Featured Image via Wikimedia