Expect a traffic jam in the Senate soon as the race to confirm Trump’s decision as president-elect is underway candidates for the cabinet.
In short, nothing can happen until President-elect Trump takes office on January 20th.
Yes, there will be plenty of Trump loyalists attending the various inauguration balls around town.
But once the inauguration ceremonies are over at the Capitol, the Senate will get down to business. Several committees are already planning “tags” for potential dismissal or sending various nominations to the floor. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has already scheduled a meeting for January 20th at 3:15 PM for the appointment Sen Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to be secretary of state. And if custom holds, the Senate will confirm at least several of Mr. Trump’s nominees just hours after he is sworn in.
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Let history be our guide:
The Senate confirmed Trump’s Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on the evening of January 20, 2017. The next confirmation did not come until January 31, 2017. It was Elaine Chao, wife of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to be Secretary of Transportation.
In 2021, the Senate confirmed one of President Biden’s nominees shortly after he was sworn in. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines was the first confirmed Biden nominee – on the night of January 20, 2021. The first, full cabinet vote did not come until January 22, when the Senate confirmed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The coming weeks are packed with confirmation hearings for President-elect Trump’s Cabinet picks — but the pace at which we can expect them to be confirmed and take office is a whole different animal. (All photos via Getty Images)
So while everyone tries to squeeze into their tuxedos on Monday night, expect the Senate to potentially vote on a nominee or two on the evening of January 20th.
Fox has been told that the most likely candidates could include Rubio — since he is a well-known figure in the Senate and has bipartisan support. Another possibility would be CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe was previously confirmed by the Senate as Director of National Intelligence during the first Trump administration. He is also a well-known entity in the halls of Congress and has served as a Republican congressman from Texas. His hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
Frankly, the ambitious schedule of quickly approving several candidates could be challenging.
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The Senate Energy Committee had to postpone Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum from Tuesday to Thursday because of paperwork delays. Minister of Veterans Affairs candidate Doug Collins is not controversial. He is a former GOP congressman from Georgia. But his confirmation hearing for Tuesday was postponed until next week. Collins was perhaps one figure who could be quickly confirmed.
Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi is also one of those who could secure a relatively quick confirmation. Her hearing is on Wednesday and Thursday. So maybe next week for her? vaguely.
But let’s study the past results of the Senate that confirmed the candidates of President Biden and compare them with the expectations for the new one Trump administration.
Attorney General-elect Pam Bondi is one of several Trump nominees who could enjoy a relatively quick confirmation, although delays in the vote are not uncommon. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
After Lloyd Austin, the Senate confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on January 25, 2021 and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 26. Most cabinet officials were not confirmed until February or March. The Senate did not confirm Interior Secretary Deb Haaland until March 15, 2021, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra until March 18, 2021, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh until March 22, 2021.
You got it.
Every candidate must pass a hearing. Committees have different rules about how they make a nomination for a speaker. So that could take some time as well. Depending on opposition or attendance issues, some candidates could get bogged down in committee. Then there can be a discussion on the floor.
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If Democrats remove the nominee, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.D.) may need to take procedural steps to crack down on the killers. The process of just initiating a procedural vote to break the filibuster takes three days. If the nominee’s opponents still don’t budge, it’s possible that senators could drag out debate on the nominee for a day or two — though senate broke the filibuster.
In February 2017, Mike Pence became the first vice president to break a tie to confirm a government official. He did so to confirm former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
In other words, floor time is high. There are various parliamentary “meridians” when the Senate can take certain procedural votes to advance a nominee. That’s why the Senate took a procedural vote on the DeVos nomination at 7 a.m. in February 2017. The Senate also confirmed then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price around 2 a.m. one morning.
Mike Pence was the first vice president whose vote was needed to break a tie to confirm a cabinet secretary — that secretary is former Education Department head Betsy DeVos. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
And we haven’t even gotten to other nominations that are important to the administration – like Pete Hoekstra for ambassador to Canada or Mike Huckabee for ambassador to Israel. There are more than 800 positions that require Senate confirmation.
To speed things up, the Senate could confirm parts of non-controversial nominees “en bloc”. This means that the Senate approves nominees from both parties to make sure there are no objections. If there are none, the Senate compiles a list and confirms the group of candidates together in one move.
But this is a long and arduous process. Confirmation of various positions in the Trump administration will take months. It consumes hours of working time. It is the most precious commodity in the Senate. Note that the push to confirm Trump’s nominees comes as the Senate tries to work out a timeline and amendments to pass the Laken Riley Act and a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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This is a monstrous process. It will probably take some early mornings, very late nights, and even some weekend sessions before this gets sorted out.
