ByCaitlin MacNeal
Published February 1, 2017
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday morning
suspended the rules and voted to approve President Donald Trump's nominees to lead the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services even though Democrats on the committee were not present.
Democrats on the committee refused to vote on Steve Mnuchin and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) until both nominees answered additional questions.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the chair of the committee, said at the meeting that under the "extraordinary circumstances" the committee could vote to suspend the rules and said that the Senate Parliamentarian has approved the suspension, according to CNN.
"They on their own accord refused to participate in the exercise," he said, per CNN. "They have nobody to blame but themselves."
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