Sen. Chuck Schumer Slams Trump’s Nominees As A ‘Swamp Cabinet’

On Wednesday, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) didn’t mince words when he categorized Donald Trump’s cabinet as a “swamp Cabinet full of bankers and billionaires.” The New York senator also criticized Republicans for the crowded scheduling of Senate confirmation hearings.

Schumer’s choice of words is a direct play on Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C. — that is, to bring in outsiders to clean up the mess previous politicians left behind. And while some of Trump’s cabinet appointments have governmental experience, many of them are business titans and executives whose net worth is hovering around $4 billion, as reported by Forbes. To put that into perspective, President Obama’s current cabinet’s net worth is $2.75 billion, which would be much less if you subtract Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s $2.5 billion net worth. Schumer was well aware of this fact and called out Trump for it:

“This is a swamp Cabinet full of bankers and billionaires … many of them have hard-right views, many of which contradict promises [Trump] campaigned on and many of [the views] are far far over the American mainstream.”

Schumer also aired his grievances about the timing of the Trump appointment confirmation hearings, many of which feel like they are piled on top of each other. He also noted that many have yet to submit their paperwork to the Office of Government Ethics, specifically pointing out Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos (who was tongue-tied during most of her hearing). He is pushing for another hearing for DeVos and said that if Republicans rush the nominees, Democrats will push for “extensive debate” in Congress.

(Via The Hill & Forbes)

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