Schumer to place hold on Commerce nominees
WASHINGTON— Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Friday he wouldnot allow quick action on a pair of Trump administration trade policy nominees because of what he said was the Commerce Department’s slow-walking action against China on its overproduction of steel and aluminum.
“I am deeply frustrated by Secretary [Wilbur] Ross’ perpetual foot-dragging on this critical investigation, and I was shocked by his recent nonsensical excuse that the Department of Commerce is waiting until after the unrelated Republican tax plan passes to complete these investigations,” Mr. Schumer said. “The steel industry has seen a surge of imports since the announcement of these investigations that has already cost jobs.”
In an April executive memorandum, President Donald Trump asked Commerce to investigate if foreign-made steel threatens domestic production and national defense readiness. Mr. Trump has pledged to boost U.S. steel production and to counter excess steel output by China that has lowered global steel prices.
The New York Democrat made his announcement ahead of Mr. Trump’s trip to Asia that is scheduled to include a visit to China.
Mr. Schumer said he will place a hold on the nominations of Gil Kaplan for Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade and Nazakhtar Nikakhtar for Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Industry and Analysis “until the Commerce Department provides a satisfactory and meaningful response on the progress of the Sec. 232 investigations.”
By placing a hold, Mr. Schumer is notifying senators he would object to an attempt to get the two nominees to be confirmed by unanimous consent.
Because of the precedent set by the last Democratic majority, Mr. Schumer cannot actually block the nominees through a hold with the backing of his caucus and would need Republican votes to block a simple majority for confirmation. It’s unclear how much time and effort Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky would invest in these nominations since he has tended to prioritize lifetime appointments to the federal bench instead of executive branch appointments.