U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte joined Chris Ryan to talk about Donald Trump inching closer to the GOP Presidential nomination, her legislation to deal with sexual assaults on campus, veteran’s issues, and why President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland shouldn’t have a senate hearing at this time.
New Hampshire’s junior senator feels that the upcoming Indiana primary may decide if Donald Trump will have the required number of delegates to win on the first ballot of the Republican Party Convention. Whoever wins the nomination will have her support, but Senator Ayotte will remain her in New Hampshire. She isn’t even going to Cleveland because she is focused on her own reelection campaign against Governor Maggie Hassan.
In a year when voters are turning against incumbents and seem to be angry with Washington, Senator Ayotte will be running on her record. She feels that she has been fighting to limit regulations which hurt businesses in the Granite State and to champion the concerns of veterans. In addition, she points to her efforts to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats in order to get things done. Senator Ayotte recently joined a bipartisan group of more than a dozen senators at a Capitol Hill news conference to push for passage of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. The bill is viewed as a uniform way to hold all colleges and universities equally accountable reporting and dealing with sexual assault on campus.
Another issue with angry voters is the poor treatment of our veterans. The problems at the Veteran’s Administration is an example of the frustration that many people feel with government incompetence. Senator Ayotte believes that up until now the VA has been only interested in serving the bureaucrats not the veterans.
Lastly, Senator Ayotte weighed in on why President Obama’s supreme court nominee, Merrick Garland, won’t be getting an up or down vote by the senate. Despite her frequent breaks from the Republican leadership, Ayotte believes that this decision should be delayed until after the November elections. She at least gave Judge Garland the courtesy of meeting with him. At this point in time, that is the advice and consent of the senate–let the people choose the new president who will decide who should be nominated to break the 4-4 spilt on the Supreme Court. She added that this was the recommendation offered by prominent democrats like Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid when a Republican president was ending his term and they controlled the senate. When she was asked what she would do if Hillary Clinton was our next president, Senator Ayotte will take a wait and see approach.
