GOP/NOMINATIONS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A GOP senator with concerns about President Donald Trump’s trade policy said Wednesday [1-17-18] he would block two of the president’s nominees, saying the Trump administration hasn’t been responsive to his concerns on the issue.
Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday that he would hold up nominees for two deputy U.S. trade representative posts because the head of the trade office, Robert Lighthizer, hadn’t returned a call or answered a trade-related question.
Aides to Messrs. Scott and Lighthizer said the two met later in the day, but Mr. Scott wasn’t ready to let the nominees go forward, saying he still had questions… The scuffle occurs at a sensitive time for trade. Already, some GOP lawmakers have expressed concerns about Mr. Trump’s trade policies and rhetoric, and their potential effect on businesses and farms that have been able to benefit from the free trade brought about by pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nafta negotiations will resume in Montreal next week.
Mr. Scott’s objection marks the second time a Republican lawmaker frustrated by the administration’s approach to trade has held up one of his nominees. Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) is holding up the appointment of the chief U.S. agricultural negotiator over concerns that a provision the U.S. wants included in a renegotiated Nafta would put up barriers to Mexican produce imported through Arizona.
While a single senator can’t hold up a nomination indefinitely, a hold can require time-consuming procedural votes to confirm nominees, slowing it down.”
-William Mauldin and Siobhan Hughes, “GOP Senator to Block Two Trump Nominees Over Trade Concerns,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 17, 2018 05:17pm