title:  Republicans Just Changed The Rules To Force Through Trump’s Controversial Nominees
text: Senate Republicans on Wednesday took an extraordinary step to force through two of alleged president Donald Trump s top Cabinet nominees after a boycott from Democrats. Republican lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee changed the rules so there will no longer be a requirement for Democrats to be present to achieve quorum.Republicans then forced through the controversial picks of Rep. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin for Secretary of Treasury.Democrats boycotted for very good reasons:Democrats launched their boycott Tuesday because they felt there were too many unanswered questions about the two nominees  possible ethics violations. They refused to participate in the process if there wouldn t be more time for vetting. When not a single Democrat showed up on Tuesday, the vote could not proceed, because of a rule requiring at least one member from the minority party be present.Every single seat on the Democrats  side of the dais was empty.Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called the boycott  extraordinary circumstances  and allowed the Republicans in the room vote to suspend the rules of the committee.  They, on their own accord, refused to participate in the exercise,  he said.  They have nobody to blame but themselves. The day before, Hatch said the Democrats were  acting like idiots  for their boycott. He said that as if he has no memory of the obstruction Republicans openly launched against President Obama for 8 years.And Democrats have ample reasons to scrutinize the nominees. There is evidence that both Price and Mnuchin lied to the committee.That swamp is being filled with terrifying creatures:For example, Mnuchin has even acknowledged that his answers were not  true, accurate, and complete,  as was apparent from his need to revise his initial disclosure questionnaire twice because of entities he  inadvertently missed.  He also testified that OneWest Bank never used  robo-signers,  even though it frequently did.And there were already questions about whether he was qualified to serve in the position in the first place. Mnuchin s bank foreclosed on tens of thousands of people while accepting $1 billion in loan forgiveness from the FDIC, and may have even broken the law by backdating documents to rush foreclosures.Price, too, has issues. He was involved in legislation that could have benefited his stock holdings. His tax returns and financial disclosure statements were brought into question ahead of the hearing.In the end, both of Trump s nominees were approved 14 0.Hatch was confronted by reporters who rushed over to the building because of the little notice given to the public about the meeting to suspend the rules. He reportedly chuckled and said,  You were scrambling? Well, you know, that s neither here nor there. Hatch admitted that he has not yet spoken with the committee s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden.  I don t feel a bit sorry for them,  he said.Questions will be left unanswered:Democrats asked that Price offer clarify on  inaccurate and misleading answer to questions about privileged and discounted access to stocks,  and wanted Mnuchin to address  inaccurate and misleading answer to questions about the potentially illegal process known as robo-signing,  among other things. I don t care what they want at this point,  Hatch said.One thing we could agree with Trump on is that the swamp needs to be drained. Of course, we knew he wouldn t keep that promise. Republicans have launched an attack on democracy.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.