Democrats shut down most action in the Senate on Wednesday, saying they were retaliating for the firing a day earlier of FBI Director James Comey, forcing the cancellation of a number of important hearings.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat, refused to allow committees to meet after 11:30 a.m., flexing a little-used rule that prevents panels from conducting business more than two hours after the chamber meets.
That nixed hearings on border security and cybersecurity, on North Korea’s belligerence and on the Veterans Affairs Department’s attempts to help veterans still struggling to get medical care.
Mr. Durbin said he made the move “because of the decision last night by the president of the United States to terminate the director of the FBI.”
Earlier in the day Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer demanded a closed-door briefing for all senators to hear a full justification for the firing, and to be able to figure out the progress in the FBI’s investigation into Russian connections to Trump campaign figures.
Mr. Durbin said that’s the path forward to restoring the Senate’s regular proceedings.
Sen. Jerry Moran, Kansas Republican, said Democrats had gone too far — particularly in forcing cancellation of the VA hearing, where the new secretary was slated to testify about the program set up to let veterans who’d waited too long for care at the VA use private doctors instead.
“Everything does not have to be partisan. everything does not have to be political,” Mr. Moran said, chiding Democrats for the cancellation.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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