The Scoop
President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, appears unable to win Senate confirmation — although he’s still slated for a committee appearance later this week.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., a member of the Homeland Security Committee, told Semafor he doesn’t “plan on voting for” Ingrassia after Politico published racist and offensive text messages attributed to the nominee. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., another member of the panel, also said he cannot support Ingrassia and said the nomination should be pulled.
Scott said he’s leaving the decision on withdrawing Ingrassia to the White House.
As of Monday evening, Ingrassia is still scheduled to appear before the committee for a Thursday confirmation hearing. The panel’s chairman said in an interview that he’s deferring to the White House when it comes to the nominee, who would likely fail to clear the committee.
“He’s still on the list unless somebody tells us otherwise,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. “They have to decide if he can go through. I’ve told them to count the votes … the White House needs to make a decision. I’m leaving it up to them.”
It’s a rare repudiation of a Trump nominee by a Republican Senate that has largely gone along with the president’s staffing choices. And the GOP resistance could create a spectacle if Ingrassia and the White House decide to continue with his confirmation, setting up a face-to-face meeting with critical senators.
A previously planned confirmation hearing for Ingrassia was scrapped earlier this year; his nomination has faced limbo for weeks due to his history of making inflammatory comments.
He’s also been accused of sexual harassment — making his nomination a rocky one even before Monday’s report. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said he’d met with Ingrassia previously, but it was before some of that information came to light.
“He has lots of posts he’s done in the past. There’s plenty of questions there,” Lankford said of Ingrassia’s public statements.
Notable
- According to Politico’s full report, the texts linked to Ingrassia included discussion of his “Nazi streak” and a call for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to be placed in the “seventh circle of hell.”