Amy Klobuchar Is Ready for the Next Heated Senate Confirmation Hearings
WASHINGTON Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is in the middle of moving offices. The art is being taken off the walls and boxed up, but that hasnt stopped the Minnesota senator from entertaining guests. A little silver tray with paper cups sat ready and waiting Thursday afternoon a testament to the fact that Klobuchar, who maintains a low profile relative to some of her colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee, gets results. In short time, William Barr, President Trumps nominee to replace Jeff Sessions as attorney general, was coming over for coffee.
Some background: Barr is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation hearings next week. But until Thursday he was refusing to meet with most Democratic members of the committee responsible for vetting him including Klobuchar.
On Wednesday night, the senator tweeted that she and her colleague, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), had both been told that Barr would not meet with them until after his hearing before the committee. The reason given? The shutdown. Yet shutdown didnt stop him from other mtgs. This is a 1st for me w/any nominee as a member of judiciary, Klobuchar wrote.
Memo To Whoever Is In Charge, she wrote in a second tweet Thursday morning, Last time I checked, AG nominee Barr was not a furloughed worker. Why was shutdown given as reason for him not meeting w/me before hearing like every other nominee has done w/judiciary Senators? I even met w/head of patents once. Will serve coffee.
Within hours, Barr would sit down in her office.
I just think they did this way last minute, deliberately, Klobuchar tells Rolling Stone. And thought that no one would complain.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/amy-klobuchar-william-barr-775139/