Republicans in the state Senate ousted Gov. Tony Evers' agriculture secretary as Evers observed from the edge of the Senate floor.
No cabinet secretary has been rejected by the Senate for decades, if ever.
Republicans defended their vote to reject Brad Pfaff, who has headed the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection since January. They argued manure storage rules Pfaff has been developing would hurt struggling farmers amid one of the worst downturns for the dairy industry.
But Evers said the lawmakers were punishing Pfaff for sticking up for farmers and publicly criticizing Republicans who control the Legislature for holding back suicide prevention funds.
"If I was a total cynic I'd say, 'Keep your damn mouth shut,' but I'm not. I want them to be forthcoming. I want them to be professional. That's why we hired them," Evers said, referring to other cabinet members who have not yet been approved by the Senate. "To think that they're going to have to keep their mouth shut for the next, who knows — four years — in order to get approved by this Senate, this is just absolute bullshit."
Evers made his comments just moments after stepping off the Senate floor where he watched lawmakers debate the fate of his agriculture secretary — a rare move for a sitting governor.
The governor remained silent, but at one point took a moment to shake the hand of Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican from Juneau, who led the effort to oust Pfaff.
Fitzgerald signaled the Republicans' plans on Friday and said Tuesday his house will "continue to take its role of oversight seriously and will exercise our responsibility to hold them in check.”
"Governor Evers is right about one thing: farmers are struggling. Unfortunately, his pick for DATCP secretary was part of the problem, not the solution," Fitzgerald said. "He tried to place burdensome rules on Wisconsin farmers at a time they can least afford it and repeatedly engaged in partisan political games targeting the Legislature."
But Evers said Pfaff and his staff tried to work with Republicans by delaying consideration of the manure storage rules that became a focus of Republicans' ire.
He said lawmakers should have worked within the rulemaking process to change them.
Evers called the move callous, cruel and "political B.S.," noting that much of the reason Pfaff was rejected was because of a fight over suicide prevention funds.
The vote fell along party lines, with all 19 Republicans voting against Pfaff and all 14 Democrats voting for him. Nine months ago, five Republican senators were united in supporting Pfaff in committee.
On the Senate floor, Fitzgerald raised the prospect that other members of Evers' cabinet could be rejected despite a long history of senators deferring to governors of both parties on the teams they assemble.
"Some are going to go through and I don’t know if the rest of them are going to make it," Fitzgerald said of Evers' cabinet.
Evers said he hasn't yet been informed by Fitzgerald which of his outstanding cabinet picks are in jeopardy.
"I don't even know — I can't even speak about that now that I'm so P.O'ed," he said.
Support for Pfaff faded after the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously recommended confirming him in February.
Fitzgerald, who is now running for Congress, was angered in July when Pfaff criticized GOP lawmakers for not making available $100,000 for mental health services for struggling farmers that was included in the state budget. Fitzgerald told Pfaff his comments were "beneath your position."
The Legislature's budget committee released the funds in September.
more:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/05/senate-reject-tony-evers-ag-secretary-and-try-limit-vetoes/4158849002/?utm_source=jsonline-News%20Alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alerts&utm_term=news_alert
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