Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott wrote a letter to Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, demanding a hearing on the supply chain crisis.
Scott said he plans to block all Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce nominees from the Biden administration until Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo testify before the committee.
“It has been months since the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, the committee of jurisdiction for these issues, has received testimony from the Secretary of Transportation or the Secretary of Commerce,” he wrote in the letter. “I have heard from families and businesses in my state that simply keeping shelves stocked is an everyday challenge.”
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Scott said he plans to block the nominees by “holding” them, which prevents a motion from moving to the Senate floor. It can be broken through a cloture vote, but a cloture vote takes up time and typically requires 60 votes. Democrats only have 50 seats in the Senate. This means that Scott’s threat to hold nominees will delay and could prevent President Joe Biden’s nominees from being confirmed.
The United States began to encounter significant supply chain issues in early 2021 as it recovered from the economic impact of the pandemic.
Companies have struggled to move products from overseas into the U.S. due to bottlenecks at ports, increased demand from consumers, and declines in production that occurred during the pandemic.
This has resulted in shortages and increased prices of critical goods across the country. It also has created domino effects across industries that have exacerbated the problem in key sectors. For example, the shortage of semiconductors has forced car manufacturers to slow down car production.
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This is not the first time Scott has decided to hold Biden nominees.
In May, he announced that he would hold nominees for the Department of Homeland Security until Biden visits the border.
