Maryland Senate candidate former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) indicated that should he be elected to the Senate, he would not vote to confirm presidential appointments unless there was bipartisan support.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash, Hogan said he would follow in the footsteps of Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WY) and pledged not to confirm nominations unless there was a bipartisan consensus on the person. Manchin recently endorsed Hogan’s candidacy. Â
“If we can’t get any bipartisan buy-in, then I’m not going to vote for that person,” Hogan said.
“Look, I appointed six out of the seven members of our Supreme Court. All six of them received unanimous confirmation by every Republican and every Democrat in the Senate. In Washington, we came to seem to get one vote. It’s like Democrats will only vote for Democrats, and Republicans will only vote for Republicans,” Hogan added.
“If there’s one place that we should not be playing politics, it’s on appointments to the Supreme Court and the Cabinet as well,” Hogan continued.
He said that he would rethink this pledge for Cabinet positions, as he believes the president should get a wider say on those who directly report to them.Â
“I think that the president has more latitude in the people that are going to report directly to him, as opposed to a separate but equal branch,” Hogan said.
“Whether it’s Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, I’m going to take a look at every single nominee on the merits,” he continued.
The nomination process has become highly politicized. Last week, the nominee for Ambassador to Libya withdrew her name, citing frustrations with the process’s length. She was nominated for the position two and a half years ago.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which approves nominations, is typically bipartisan in nature, but has been entangled in disagreements for months. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the panel’s top Republican, has refused to sign off on a committee-wide meeting to consider nominations and legislation. He is holding out until Democrats agree to add the sanctions bill against the ICC to the agenda, which was passed in the House.Â
Bash also asked Hogan about what could be his first vote in the Senate: certifying the election. During the 2020 election, 147 Republicans in Congress voted in some capacity not to certify the election results in various swing states in an effort to overturn the results of the election.Â
“All the conspiracy theories about the stolen election are nonsense,” Hogan said. “I mean, certainly, there were some irregularities, but not enough overturning election. I thought it was a lack of courage on the part of some folks who got pressured into taking positions I would never take.”Â
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“I was the first one, first Republican to congratulate President Biden to ask Donald Trump to concede. I mean, obviously we can’t. You can’t try to overcome the will of the voters,” Hogan continued.
When asked if he would certify “no matter what,” Hogan responded, “Absolutely.” Hogan has repeatedly said he is not voting for the top of the Republican ticket this election.