#senate confirmation

[tomorrowusa]

In addition to the clown car in the House of Representatives, certain Senate Republicans like Ted "Cancún" Cruz and Tommy Tuberville are creating bottlenecks for appointments related to national security and foreign relations. One of the appointments caught in that bottleneck is former Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew who has been nominated as ambassador to Israel.

Senate Democrats are pushing aggressively for quick confirmation of Jack Lew as ambassador to Israel after the attack by Hamas on Saturday. Lew was nominated in early September. But the attack, widely condemned by both parties and across the ideological spectrum, will kick the effort into high gear. It will jump start a broader debate over aid to Israel in an already chaotic fall. [ ... ] Lawmakers are also trying to supply aid to Ukraine after leaving it out of the last spending bill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that ”failure to support friends under attack — in Kyiv or Tel Aviv — will only embolden the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and fellow authoritarians.” [ ... ] Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has previously put holds on some Biden administration nominees for posts related to the Middle East, raising questions about how quickly Lew could move through the Senate. A spokesperson on Saturday said Cruz has not yet met with Lew but indicated deep concerns about administration nominees related to Israel. [ ... ] Biden administration officials also are eager to see Lew confirmed in light of the Saturday’s attacks in Israel. In a conference call Saturday, one senior official noted that he has yet to be confirmed. “Obviously it would be great to have him on the ground in Israel,” the official said. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is preventing many military promotions from a quick vote in protest over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. “This is serious business. If he wants to change healthcare policy at DOD, he can introduce a bill. But he cannot undermine our ability to help our allies and partners,” Schatz said on Saturday.

Tommy Tuberville is a nitwit trying to impress anti-abortion extremists back in Alabama by preventing Senate confirmation for officers in the US Armed Forces. Lyin' Ted Cruz is up for re-election in 2024 and is eager to display his hardline anti-Biden credentials in Texas by preventing the US embassy in Israel from having an ambassador at a crucial time.

If you live in Alabama or Texas, contact Tuberville or Cruz and tell them to quit making life easy for America's enemies and international terrorists.

U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators

[waitmyturtles]

From The New York Times: [Thai] Lawmakers Block Prime Minister Candidate From New Vote, Drawing Protests

[July 19, 2023: Pasting here to bypass the NYT paywall. I thought this was an excellent overview of the recent history of Thai elections, and how the Senate confirmation process works. Again, remember: references to what’s happening politically will likely make it into the dramas we watch later this year and next. By Mike Ives and Muktita Suhartoto.] 

Protests erupted in Bangkok on Wednesday, hours after Thailand’s conservative establishment suspended a progressive leader and lawmakers denied him the chance to stand for a second parliamentary vote for prime minister.

The candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, leads a party that won the most votes in a May election after campaigning on an ambitious reform platform that challenged the country’s powerful conservative establishment. He lost an initial parliamentary vote for prime minister last week.

Late Wednesday, lawmakers voted to deny Mr. Pita, 42, the chance to stand for a second vote on the grounds that Parliament’s rules do not permit a “repeat motion.” Mr. Pita’s supporters see that as a not-so-subtle move to keep him out of power.

The mood in Bangkok, Thailand’s muggy capital, was anxious as protesters hit the streets on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Pita’s supporters have been expressing outrage online toward an establishment that often pushes back against Thailand’s democratic process.

“In my heart, I knew this would happen, so it didn’t come as a shock,” said Wichuda Rotphai, 41, one of hundreds of people who gathered outside Parliament on Wednesday to support Mr. Pita’s doomed bid for premier. “But I’m still disappointed, and I can’t accept it.”

Here’s what to know.

What does Pita Limjaroenrat stand for?

Mr. Pita’s party, Move Forward, has proposed ambitious policies for challenging Thailand’s powerful institutions like the military and the monarchy. The party won 151 seats in Parliament, the most of any party, and 10 more than Pheu Thai, the party founded by the exiled populist Thaksin Shinawatra, whose influence still towers over Thai politics.

Mr. Pita’s party has formed an eight-party coalition, which nominated him for prime minister last week. He came up short in the first vote because the Senate is controlled by military-appointed lawmakers who oppose his candidacy and the Move Forward platform.

I’m confused. Why are senators so tied to the military?

Becoming prime minister requires a simple majority of the 500-seat House of Representatives and the 250-seat Senate.

But the rules governing Senate appointments were drafted by the military junta that seized power from a democratically elected government in a 2014 coup. They effectively give senators veto power over prime ministerial candidates.

Last week, Mr. Pita won only 13 votes from the 249 senators who voted for prime minister. Mr. Pita acknowledged in an Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon that he was unlikely to become prime minister.

“It’s clear now that in the current system, winning the people’s trust isn’t enough to run the country,” he wrote.

Why was it such an uphill battle?

Mr. Pita had faced a slew of challenges even before Parliament denied him a chance to stand for a second vote.

The Constitutional Court said on Wednesday morning, for example, that it was suspending Mr. Pita from Parliament until a ruling is made in a case involving his shares of a media company. Investigators are trying to determine whether Mr. Pita properly disclosed owning the shares before running for office, as required by Thai law.

The court’s ruling forced Mr. Pita to leave the chamber. It would not necessarily have prevented his coalition from nominating for a second time. But Parliament saw to that on its own.

Mr. Pita’s supporters have said the investigation is one of many ways that the establishment has been trying to unfairly derail his candidacy.

So who will be prime minister?

Before the drama on Wednesday, Mr. Pita had said if it became clear that he could not win, his party would allow its coalition partner, Pheu Thai, to nominate its own candidate.

Pheu Thai probably will do just that, but is also likely to form a brand-new coalition, one that is more palatable to conservative lawmakers who cannot stomach Mr. Pita and Move Forward.

Pheu Thai’s candidate would likely be Srettha Thavisin, 60, a property mogul with little political experience. If a new coalition materializes, he could be voted in as prime minister as early as this week.

Mr. Srettha would immediately present a sharp contrast to the current prime minister, former Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the 2014 military coup.

A more remote, but not impossible, scenario is that Pheu Thai allows a party from the conservative establishment to nominate a candidate as a condition for joining a new coalition. That candidate could be Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, 77, the deputy prime minister in the current government.

What would a Srettha victory represent?

Many would see it as a triumph for the democratic process in Thailand, a country with a long history of mass protests and military coups. Some foreign investors would also see a potential boost for a sluggish, coronavirus-battered economy.

But many of Move Forward’s progressive supporters would be angry about the establishment blocking their party from forming a government. On Wednesday evening, a demonstration reflecting that anger was taking shape at the city’s Democracy Monument.

The size of the protests over the next days or weeks will likely depend on who becomes prime minister. If it’s Mr. Srettha, demonstrations could be sporadic and modest. If it’s General Prawit or another military figure, they could be sustained and intense.

Ms. Wichuda, the protester, was one of hundreds who gathered outside Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, peering through its gates at police officers in riot gear. She said that while she did not agree with Mr. Pita’s contentious pledge to revise a law that criminalizes criticism of the monarchy, she still felt he had been “robbed” by politicians who were afraid to give a younger generation the chance to improve the country.

“If they can do such things to people with money and power,” she said, “what will be left for us, the common people, who have no position and no title?”

[too-many-plants]

For the love of God please stop filling out that Senate survey post that I've seen floating around. It's not even a survey being put on by the Senate. It's being put on by Senator Tillis (hard right conservative). You can see it in the url when you click the link it says "ttillis". This survey isn't going to be used to inform policy choices, it's going to be used by the GOP as something like proof of how social media is biased against conservatives or something equally as stupid.

That's why the questions are so obviously biased and misleading

[fruitgoat]

Um….

I don’t want to tell you what to do, State of Oregon. But I agreed not to itemize on my tax return this year and let you pocket that money. You pay for some of my favorite places and some of my favorite people (can we pay teachers like 4000% more?). You even pay for my meds, no questions asked. I signed off my smaller tax refund because I could. And I wanted you to use that money. So why are you depositing three times the agreed amount in my bank account?

[maddykomtrikru]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRx2CLHv/

headcanon that nancy is autistic is soothing for the soul tbh

[jomiddlemarch]

Thank you, Georgia!

(I wish some of the 700+ voters I sent postcards to could somehow know I am clapping for them right now!)

[illgiveyouahint]

welp i guess i am facebook friend with one of the justices of the Constitutional Court 😳

[bolithesenate]

AMONG YOUR OCS, WHOS MOST LIKELY TO PUNCH A SENATOR

'most likely' you say?

well OCs who have at least one (1) confirmed Senator Punch are Ranatward and Shonti

though Shonti punched her senator with a missile launcher so maybe that counts doubly

and if you want to exclude those who already did the deed, then... hmm. many o fthem would. but i think MOST likely, all things considered, would be Castella Vox (the archivist we only saw once very briefly in the temple guard fic so far)

because they would do it no questions asked simply to see what happens. and the only reason they havent so far is because senators are rare in the archives these days.

other ocs would rank up if certain conditions were met, like if a senator spoke badly about Jocasta, Eibraarlas would go for the jugular. if there was a threat to a youngling, Wol (another oc fot the temple guard fic) would punch first ask questions later. most of my mando ocs would also do that if a senator was rude to a kid within their earshot

but Castella wins by merit of 'theyd do it for the punch's sake'

and any senator

no questions asked

honorable mentions (that are too geographically or temporally removed from the senate to punch anyone ever but would LOVE to):

sisviker ninedi (agricorps)

nuot-cla gerris (agricorps)

darth motina (my swtor era self insert)

jon antilles (mud fic edition)

marek vizsla (a friend of tarre)

kendrah kessel (from my sequels rewrite)

sli maka (republic intel officer, rpg character of mine)

[maybeamultiverse]

Just found out that 'Senator Vreenak' has a Twitter account and he likes Joe Biden, the color blue, the Florida Panthers, ice hockey, the nation of Canada, and... Star Wars?

[legionofcrows]

"telling people to 'vote' after the scotus decision is released isn't helpful right now" and "implying/promoting the idea that voting is useless is a stupid af move" are two ideas that really need to coexist in American politics

[edwardscissorfeet]

cicero's ghost in tate @catilinas. cicero in catilinas. cicero in CATILINA?

[executiveson-blog]

SENATE CONFIRMS THE APPOINTMENT OF SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

The Nigerian Senate has Confirmed the appointment of 11 justices of the Supreme court of Nigeria. There are:Justice Jummai SankeyJustice Stephen AdahJustice Mohammed IdrisJustice Haruna TsammaniJustice Jamilu TukurJustice Abubakar UmarJustice Chidiebere UwaJustice Chioma Nwosu IhemeJustice Obande FestusJustice Moore AdumeJustice Habib Adewale

[digitalcreationsllc]

Senate confirms Harry Coker Jr. as national cyber director

The Senate confirmed Harry Coker Jr. as national cyber director Tuesday, ending a 10-month absence of a permanent leader in the role. The Navy veteran and executive director of the National Security Agency from 2017 to 2019, will lead the Office of the National Cyber Director and its team of about 100 employees after the Senate confirmed his nomination by a 59-40 vote. Coker joins the White House…

[barbarastreisandof]

Blocking out her name and picture to protect her from harassment, but this is a Palestinian journalist reporting out of Gaza who I've personally had contact with through Twitter.

Money and aid is not getting through. Crowdfunding is not helpful. Ordering things is not helpful. Buying keffiyehs that say the money goes to Gaza is not helpful.

Gaza is a concentration camp - nothing is getting in or out that Israel does not approve of and right now Israel wants people dead or dying.

Most of social media, and tumblr is no exception, skews toward "taking action" being things that put you at zero risk and only ask for money or bits of time, or sometimes just doing nothing and calling it a boycott. "Call your rep!" "Buy this thing!" "Share this link!"

The reality is that you get out what you put in and if it was easy and low risk and comfortable for you to do it, then that is the level of impact it is having - low, comfortable to ignore, and flimsy.

Palestine, Gaza and increasingly the West Bank, NEEDS real help and the reality is we do not have the power as individuals to give it.

We DO have the power to band together and influence things collectively and the best way to do that is to loudly unequivocally express our anger and clarity of purpose.

So that does mean calling reps and being polite and firm and brief and giving your real address because otherwise they can't confirm you're a constituent and they'll ignore you. "Hello, my name is ______ and I am calling as a constituent to demand representative/senator _______ support aid to Gaza and to call for an end to support for all support to Israel."

It is important that your support for Gaza include opposition to Israel - there is no supporting Gaza while supporting Israel, it genuinely is one or the other.

Tear down pro-Israel posters. Tear down those fake kidnapped propaganda posters. Show up to rallies and marches where you can and if you can't, find out who's organizing them and get in touch to offer your support and help. Talk to family and friends. LEARN! Read up on these things and teach yourself history so you can better advocate and push back on propaganda.

Be willing to have people not like you. Losing friends over this is, and I don't mean to be cold here, nothing. It doesn't matter. Fuck em. If advocating against genocide costs you friendships and gets people calling you antisemitic, fuck em, good riddance. Privately process the loss of those relationships if they really matter to you, but publicly don't give it air because this is not a time to be focused on the feelings of people who cannot bring themselves to oppose ethnic cleansing.

The culture is shifting, support for Palestine is growing and it NEEDS to continue and we have the power to make sure it does.

[jthurlow]

Continue to Call Out the Bad Actors-Toxic Lake Okeechobee