{"id":2130033,"date":"2023-12-20T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T20:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawley-blocks-two-gop-nominees-from-senate-confirmation-over-mcconnell-ties\/"},"modified":"2023-12-20T15:41:03","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T20:41:03","slug":"hawley-blocks-two-gop-nominees-from-senate-confirmation-over-mcconnell-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawley-blocks-two-gop-nominees-from-senate-confirmation-over-mcconnell-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawley halts Senate confirmation of two GOP nominees due to their connections with McConnell"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhawley-blocks-two-gop-nominees-from-senate-confirmation-over-mcconnell-ties%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2130033&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Sen. Josh\u200d Hawley Blocks Nominations, Escalates Feud\u200b with Sen. Mitch McConnell<\/h2>\n<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) \u200dhas\u200d once again clashed with Senate\u200b Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), \u200bthis time by obstructing the advancement of two nominations for McConnell&#8217;s former \u200caides. Hawley is withholding consent for the fast-tracking of Andrew\u200b Ferguson&#8217;s nomination to lead the Federal\u200d Trade Commission and Todd Inman&#8217;s nomination for a senior role\u2064 with the National Transportation \u2062Safety Board. Ferguson, \u2064McConnell&#8217;s former\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-names-experienced-prosecutor-as-new-white-house-counsel\/\" title=\"Biden appoints seasoned prosecutor as White House Counsel.\">chief \u2064legal counsel<\/a>, was\u2064 recommended\u200d for\u2064 the FTC position\u200d by his ex-boss, while Inman served as a McConnell \u2063campaign aide.<\/p>\n<h3>Long-standing Differences<\/h3>\n<p>Hawley has a history of disagreements with McConnell, openly \u2064voting against him as conference leader.\u2064 In a statement on Tuesday, Hawley acknowledged their differences \u200dbefore \u200csending a direct letter to McConnell on Wednesday. The Missouri senator expressed &#8220;significant concerns&#8221;\u200b about McConnell&#8217;s stances on transportation and safety\u2063 policy, as well as antitrust and Big Tech.\u200c He stated that he wanted to understand how Ferguson&#8217;s and\u2064 Inman&#8217;s views diverged from McConnell&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<h3>Seeking Clarity<\/h3>\n<p>In his letter, Hawley highlighted that the bipartisan nominations legislation \u2062being\u2062 negotiated \u200din the Senate would likely favor only a few GOP appointments. He emphasized the \u2062need to ensure that the Republican\u2062 nominees are carefully chosen if Democrats are planning to swiftly confirm numerous\u200b Biden\u200b nominees\u2062 without a vote. The \u200bletter also included\u2062 a list of questions Hawley had for\u2062 Ferguson and\u200b Inman.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell&#8217;s representatives did not respond \u200dto requests for comment on Hawley&#8217;s actions \u2062and letter. The Senate Republican leader did\u2064 not address the matter in his floor speech on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<h3>Republican Attorneys\u2064 General Association&#8217;s Support<\/h3>\n<p>The Republican Attorneys General\u200c Association voiced its support for Ferguson&#8217;s nomination, emphasizing \u2062his role in fighting against Big Tech and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-massive-implications-scotus-takes-up-case-involving-high-school-football-coach-fired-for-praying-on-the-field\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 'Massive Implications': SCOTUS Takes Up Case Involving High School Football Coach Fired for Praying on the Field\u00a0\">defending religious liberty<\/a>. They urged the Senate Republican Conference to unite and swiftly confirm Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak as FTC Commissioners.<\/p>\n<p>Prior \u200dto his Senate tenure, Hawley served as the Republican attorney general for Missouri. Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/campaign-finance-data-exposes-frontrunner-dem-senate-candidate-tangled-web-uncovered\/\" title=\"Campaign finance data reveals troubling connections for the leading Democratic Senate candidate.\">receiving significant financial support<\/a> from \u200cthe McConnell-linked Senate \u200cLeadership Fund during his 2018 campaign, Hawley has consistently\u2063 clashed with the Republican leader. Their latest dispute arose when Hawley&#8217;s efforts to include an amendment reauthorizing a\u2064 compensation program for nuclear contamination victims in the National Defense Authorization Act were blocked\u200d by McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">Click here<\/a> to \u2062read more from the Washington\u2062 Examiner.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> In what ways does Sen. Hawley&#8217;s \u200cdecision to obstruct the nominations align with \u200dhis \u2063campaign to reshape the Republican Party and prioritize the concerns of conservative voters?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Rences but did not provide\u2064 specific reasons for his decision \u2062to block the nominations. This escalation\u200c of their feud has raised concerns within the Republican\u2064 Party, as it\u2063 may further strain\u200d the already\u200c fragile unity \u2063among party \u200cmembers.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Hawley has\u2063 been a vocal critic\u200c of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">big tech companies<\/a> \u200dand has recently intensified his scrutiny of tech giants\u2064 such as Facebook \u200band Twitter. His\u200c decision to obstruct the nomination\u2064 of Andrew Ferguson, who is a \u2064former legal counsel to McConnell, may \u2064be seen as a strategic move to challenge \u2062the influence \u2063of establishment figures within the Republican Party. This aligns\u2063 with Hawley&#8217;s ongoing \u2063campaign to \u200breshape the party and prioritize the concerns of conservative voters over corporate interests.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Hawley&#8217;s decision\u200c may \u2063also\u200b reflect his skepticism towards the power and influence of government agencies. By blocking\u200b Todd\u200d Inman&#8217;s nomination to the National Transportation Safety Board, Hawley might\u200d be signaling his belief that regulatory bodies, such as the FTC and \u2064NTSB, require a significant overhaul to better serve \u200bthe American people. This\u2062 aligns with his broader agenda of advocating\u2064 for \u2063greater accountability \u2063and\u200c transparency in government \u200cinstitutions.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley&#8217;s \u2064actions have drawn both support and criticism from fellow Republicans. \u2062Some conservatives see him as\u2064 a\u2064 principled and courageous politician who is\u2062 willing to challenge the status quo\u200c within \u200dthe party. They view\u200b his \u2063obstruction \u200bof nominations as a\u2064 necessary step towards reshaping the Republican Party based on conservative values.\u200b On the other\u2064 hand, critics argue that Hawley&#8217;s actions\u200c are \u200bcounterproductive and only serve \u2062to create further divisions within the\u200c party. They believe that unity is crucial for Republicans to effectively push for their policy agenda and achieve success \u200cin future elections.<\/p>\n<p>The clash between \u200cHawley and\u2063 McConnell highlights the \u200bdeep divisions\u2064 within the\u200b Republican Party. While both politicians identify as Republicans, their conflicting priorities and approaches\u2062 to governance have created tensions\u2064 that are increasingly difficult \u200dto reconcile.\u200d This \u2064feud serves as a reflection of the broader ideological\u2064 struggle within the party, with Hawley representing a more populist and nationalist\u2063 wing and McConnell representing a more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marjorie-taylor-greene-wants-future-speaker-to-pursue-her-issues-of-choice\/\" title=\"Marjorie Taylor Greene urges future speaker to prioritize her preferred 'issues'.\">traditional \u200bconservative approach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As this feud escalates, it remains to be seen how it will impact the Republican Party and its \u2064ability to effectively govern and present \u2064a united front to\u200d voters. The tension between \u200cthe party&#8217;s establishment figures and the rising populist\u2064 wing is likely \u200cto play a significant role in shaping the \u200dfuture\u200d direction of \u200bthe\u2063 party.\u2062 In the\u200b meantime, the obstruction of\u2064 these nominations is just one example of the ongoing power struggle \u200cwithin Republican\u2062 ranks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) intensified his ongoing feud with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) by obstructing the progress of two nominations belonging to McConnell&#8217;s former aides. Hawley is currently withholding consent for the swift approval of Andrew Ferguson as the head of the Federal Trade Commission and Todd Inman&#8217;s nomination<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2130034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2130033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2130033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2130034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2130033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2130033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2130033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}