A look at how Blumenthal, Murphy have voted on Trump's Cabinet nominees so far
Connecticut's U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy both have been divided nearly half-and-half in their support of President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees.
Of the 14 Trump nominees the Senate has confirmed so far, Blumenthal has voted "no" on eight, while Murphy has voted against seven. Nine more still need to be confirmed, including the head of the Council of Economic Advisers. No nominee had been advanced as of Saturday afternoon.
The Connecticut senators' one difference of opinion has been on retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, who was nominated as Secretary of Homeland Security; Blumenthal was one of 11 negative votes on that nomination. Weather-related travel delays prevented the senators, both Democrats, from voting on Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas to head the Central Intelligence Agency, though both put out statements opposing his confirmation.
They both voted in favor of Linda McMahon, a one-time political rival of both, to head the Small Business Administration.
Blumenthal and Murphy most recently voted against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
Pruitt was confirmed Friday by the Senate in a 52-46 vote. As Oklahoma's attorney general, he had sued the EPA over clean air and water pollution rules, and now will oversee an agency that Trump has described as having too many regulations.
"Scott Pruitt has been a crusader on behalf of the energy industry against environmental protection," Murphy had said on the Senate floor early Friday.
Senate Democrats have staged several overnight speeches on the Senate floor to voice their opposition to some of Trump's nominees and to prolong their confirmations, most recently Pruitt's. They had called for delaying Pruitt's nomination until he releases thousands of emails, exchanged between him and fossil-fuel companies while he was attorney general, that he has refused to hand over. Democratic lawmakers said the emails likely would show Pruitt's conflicts of interest in taking the EPA job.
Blumenthal said in a written statement that Pruitt's "record of protecting companies that pollute our air and water and harm our health is antithetical to the purpose of this agency and the priorities of Connecticut families."
As for Kelly, Blumenthal voted against him "despite my consummate respect and admiration for him as a dedicated and courageous military veteran."
His no vote, he said, was to emphasize the need for comprehensive immigration reform, particularly for so-called "dreamers," those who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
"He failed to guarantee that the personal information that they submitted to government in good faith would not be used against them in deportation proceedings," Blumenthal said.
Murphy released a statement explaining his yes votes for Kelly and for James Mattis as defense secretary. While he expects to have strong differences with the Trump administration on foreign policy issues and keeping the country safe, he said, "we'd be even worse off without people like Generals Mattis and Kelly in the room."
Murphy hopes their experience will "inject a level of seriousness into President Trump's administration," he said in the statement.
Both senators voted to confirm McMahon despite her two heated Senate bids against them. McMahon lost to Blumenthal in 2010 and Murphy in 2012. She was approved as SBA administrator by an 81-19 vote. The SBA provides government-backed loans to small businesses and helps advocate for them on Capitol Hill.
McMahon, of Greenwich, founded Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment with her husband, Vince. During her Senate hearing, where she was introduced by Blumenthal and Murphy, she described tough decisions she had to make in the company's early days, such as whether to continue to lease a typewriter or if she could afford to buy one. The company, which she stepped away from in 2009 to run for Senate, now has more than 800 employees. She said during the hearing that she'll fight government regulations that are overly burdensome to businesses.
The senators both voted against Betsy DeVos to run the Department of Education due to what they see as her complete inexperience for the job.
Blumenthal called her "unquestionably unqualified, unknowledgeable and unprepared," whereas Murphy voted no because "people in Connecticut couldn't understand why a person who has fought so hard to undermine public schools would be put in charge of them."
Murphy was not immediately available to comment Friday on the remaining Trump nominees requiring Senate approval.
Blumenthal said Thursday that he likely would vote against former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to run the Department of Energy because he "may well pursue a fossil-fuel agenda that would be antithetical to environmental and energy-efficiency concerns."
While he hasn't reached a final decision, Blumenthal said he remained "deeply concerned" about comments Perry made during his Senate hearing "that indicate a lack of knowledge as well as bias in favor of oil and gas interests."
Blumenthal said he also likely would vote against Ben Carson to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He said he needed more time to research R. Alexander Acosta, who Trump nominated Thursday to be labor secretary after his first choice, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination amid growing opposition from Senate Republicans.
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