'Maximal delays': Dem senator vows 'blanket hold' on Trump State Dept. noms unless USAID attacks cease

03 February

Secretary of State Marco Rubio enjoyed strong bipartisan support when his nomination was confirmed in the U.S. Senate on Inauguration Day 2025. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), however, made it clear that he will not "rubber stamp" President Donald Trump's nominees — and plans to evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.

Schumer had no problem supporting Rubio's nomination, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, on the other hand, didn't receive a single Democratic vote in the U.S. Senate. And when three GOP senators joined Democrats in their opposition, it took a tie-breaker from Vice President JD Vance to get Hegseth confirmed.

Now, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) — who voted for Rubio but against Hegseth — is, according to the Wall Street Journal's Alexander Ward, saying that he will place a "blanket hold" on Trump's State Department nominees unless his administration ceases its attacks on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ward, in an article published on February 3, explains, "Schatz's threat came as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency aims to close the U.S. Agency for International Development; the agency's existence as an independent government organization is codified in federal law. Over the weekend, DOGE staffers forced their way into USAID's headquarters in Washington, gaining access to classified information and closing the building to employees on Monday."

The Hawaii Democrat didn't mince words, telling the WSJ, "I will oppose unanimous consent. I will vote no. I will do maximal delays until this is resolved."

Schatz’s "move," according to Ward, "would leave several bureaus and offices without senior leadership, complicating U.S. diplomatic efforts and the administration’s ability to speak with a clear voice about its foreign priorities."

"Schatz’s move shows that Democrats are stepping up their efforts to block DOGE's attempts to dissolve USAID — and it a signals a greater willingness to push back on the new president," Ward reports. "He and other lawmakers in his party will show up at the agency’s Washington headquarters Monday in a show of support. Democratic senators said they have talked with Republicans in recent days over what actions, if any, they might take to reverse the administration’s actions against USAID. For now, they say there is little they can do legislatively, especially because the organization's existence already is delineated in federal statute."

Schatz predicts that legal challenges to Republican anti-USAID efforts will be successful.

The U.S. senator told the WSJ, "You cannot wave a wand and eliminate a department established by federal law, so it will be reversed by a court."

Read the full Wall Street Journal article at this link (subscription required).

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