Twenty-two members of the Senate Democratic caucus flipped their votes on Sean Duffy, President Trump’s pick to head the Transportation Department, after the White House budget office issued a memo Monday evening pausing large swaths of federal funding, which Democrats warned would plunge the nation in chaos.
Duffy’s nomination advanced on the Senate floor Monday by a unanimous vote of 97-0, but a lot of the bipartisan feeling of goodwill toward the nominee evaporated after Trump’s Office of Management and Budget issued guidance that Democrats said would freeze much federal assistance.
Twenty-one Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, voted against confirming Duffy Tuesday afternoon, a remarkable shift in sentiment reflecting the deep anger of many Democrats over Trump’s latest executive action. He was confirmed on a 77-22 vote.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), one of the Democrats who flipped on Duffy, said the budget memo spurred him to change his mind.
“It’s already causing chaos and confusion,” he said of the OMB directive.
“The president’s freezing funds for essential and urgent programs that are the responsibility of the Department of Transportation and we need to hear from Sean Duffy how he’s going to oppose it,” Blumenthal said.
