Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R., Texas) lamented the "backlog" of President Donald Trump's executive nominations in a Wednesday morning Senate floor speech, saying, "I have never seen anything quite like it."
"We had an election on November 8, but for many of our colleagues, the election remains undecided. They don't accept the verdict of the American people, the Electoral College, that President Trump won the election. Hillary Clinton lost," Cornyn said.
"And that's how they somehow justify their consistent foot dragging and obstruction when it comes to the president's nominees for important offices, including his Cabinet," he continued. "It's the president's prerogative to nominate who he wants to serve in the executive branch, but it's our duty, our responsibility to carefully consider their qualifications before coming together to confirm them."
Cornyn pointed out that people have been waiting months for their nominations to be confirmed, despite having an almost unanimous vote of the Senate.
"If they were truly controversial, I think it would be reflected in the vote for their confirmation, but they're not," Cornyn said.
Cornyn gave some examples, including one of Texas's own, former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R.).
"Our former colleague Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has been nominated to serve as the ambassador to NATO. I can't think of a more qualified person than my good friend, the former senator from Texas. Our country needs leadership in Brussels at NATO to help counter Russian aggression and threats and intimidation against our allies in the region. But that's just one example," Cornyn said.
Cornyn then criticized Democrats for confirming eight noncontroversial Department of Defense nominees, "in the dead of night."
"It's time to get over the election," he said. "That was November 8. We used to see a difference between elections and then the responsibility of governing regardless of who won the election. We still have the responsibility to govern. Some people seem to have forgotten that."