Deirdre Shesgreen

USATODAY

WASHINGTON — Democrats delayed votes on two of President Trump's cabinet nominees Tuesday in a surprise move that inflamed partisan tensions and left Republicans uncertain of their next move.

On hold for now: Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, and his pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, GOP Rep. Tom Price of Georgia.

The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to vote on both candidates Tuesday. But Democrats on that panel--in a boycott organized by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Ron Wyden of Oregon--refused to attend the meeting, thus denying Republicans a quorum and preventing the votes from occurring.

Republicans on the committee blasted the move as an unprecedented “dereliction of duty” and a partisan jab that would damage comity in the Senate.

“It’s hard for me to understand this,” said Republican committee chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. “These are two really fine men. Both are sacrificing financially and otherwise to serve the country.”

He called the Democrats move “amazingly stupid,” adding: “I hope they’ll get their heads on right.”

After a short meeting attended only by a handful of Republicans, Hatch was forced to recess the session. He said he would reschedule the vote as soon as possible.

Brown has vociferously opposed Mnuchin, objecting to the nominee's "cozy ties to Wall Street" and questioning his leadership of a bank, OneWest, that was involved in questionable foreclosure practices. He cited new report that when Mnuchin was in charge, OneWest used "robo-signing" in its foreclosures--a direct contradiction of the nominee's testimony to the Senate committee.

Robo-signing is when a bank employee signs mortgage documents without reviewing them or ensuring their accuracy.The practice allowed some banks to foreclose on homes without verifying that the owners had defaulted on their loans.

"People lost their homes because of what his bank did," Brown said Tuesday. "That’s pretty serious and … now he wants to be Secretary of Treasury?"

Read more:

HHS nominee Tom Price dodges questions on Trump's Obamacare replacement

Trump's Treasury nominee Steven Mnuchin denies he ran 'foreclosure machine'

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On Price's nomination, Democrats have raised questions about the congressman's stock trades, pointing to allegations of insider trading and special deals he may have received. Brown said Democrats want another hearing or written answers from both nominees on these issues.

Hatch of Utah flatly rejected that demand.

"I'm not going to do that," Hatch said. He said the Democrats had plenty of time to question both nominees.

Asked if he would change the rules to allow a vote to proceed without a quorum, Hatch wavered — first saying he might, then saying he wasn't sure.

"We'll have to see," Hatch said. "There’s a bunch of things we can do."

The Democrats' protest infuriated Republicans in Congress and at the White House. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused the Democrats of sowing “chaos,” while White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the move “outrageous.”

“It’s unfortunate the Senate Democrats remain so out of touch with the message that the American people sent this past November," Spicer said. "The people want change, President Trump is delivering that change, and the only response from Senate Democrats so far is to try to stall the core functions of our government."