Obama Blasts Utah Senator For Causing Gridlock

President Obama never uttered Utah Senator Mike Lee's name in his weekly address, but what he was saying was directly aimed at him. On Thursday, Senator Lee announced he was going to obstruct every single American President Obama appointed to a judgeship or public service position -- unless the President fire the consumer watchdog he put in place to protect the American people from financial schemes or malpractice.

"For the most part, it's not that this senator thinks these nominees are unqualified. In fact, all of the judicial nominees being blocked have bipartisan support. And almost 90 percent have unanimous support from the Judiciary Committee, President Obama said in his weekly address.

"This isn't about me. We weren't sent here to wage perpetual political campaigns against each other. We were sent here to serve the American people. And they deserve better than gridlock and games. One senator gumming up the works for the whole country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned.

"The truth is, neither party has been blameless in tactics like these. But it's time for both parties to put an end to them. I'm asking Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, to stop this kind of behavior by passing a rule that allows all judicial and public service nominations a simple up-or-down vote within 90 days."

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• Mike Lee
• Utah
• gridlock
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• CFPB
• Richard Cordray