Dem senator puts hold on Trump nominees over offshore drilling plan
Source: The Hill
BY TIMOTHY CAMA - 01/18/18 09:45 AM EST
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) is blocking quick confirmation of three Trump administration nominees, saying he hasn’t gotten sufficient assurances regarding offshore drilling off Florida’s coasts.
Nelson spokesman Ryan Brown said the senator sent Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a letter last week seeking details on Zinke’s pledge to remove Florida from consideration for drilling. But Zinke hasn’t responded to that letter, prompting the hold late Wednesday on three Interior Department nominees.
Brown said Nelson “will keep the holds in place until Zinke rescinds the draft five-year drilling plan published in the Federal Register on Jan. 8 and replaces it with a new draft plan that preserves the current moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico beyond 2022 and fully protects all of Florida’s coasts from the threat of both offshore drilling and seismic testing.”
After a brief meeting last week with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), Zinke said Florida’s waters would be taken out of the drilling plan.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/369509-dem-senator-puts-hold-on-trump-nominees-over-offshore-drilling-plan
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And Democratic Senators from all the rest of the affected states need to do the same.
Now-retired (R) Tom Coburn was the MASTER of "the hold" (meaning blocking unanimous consent legislation or resolutions or confirmations) and that was to extract changes he wanted. Time for our side to do the same.
