Democrats turn IRS nomination hearing into referendum on Russia

Senate Democrats on Thursday turned a meeting on President Trump’s nominee to lead the IRS into a referendum on President Trump’s behavior toward Russia, and said the Senate should use the nomination as leverage over Trump.

The nominee, Chuck Rettig, was cruising toward gaining bipartisan approval from the panel in a vote scheduled for the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. But Democrats, who acknowledged that Rettig is qualified for the job, sought to stop his progress based on several of the week’s developments related to Russia’s influence in the U.S. Ultimately, Republicans were only able to advance the nomination on a 14 to 13 vote Thursday afternoon.