Expect a traffic jam in the Senate soon as the race to confirm President-elect Trump's victory gets underway Candidates for the Council of Ministers.
In short, nothing can happen before President-elect Trump takes office on January 20.
Yes, there will be plenty of Trump loyalists attending the many inaugural parties around town.
But once the inauguration festivities at the Capitol are over, the Senate will get to work. A group of committees are already tabulating “markups” to potentially issue or send various nominations to the public. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has already held a meeting at 3:15 PM EST on January 20 to nominate the nominee. Sin. Marco Rubio (Republican from Florida) to be Secretary of State. If this practice continues, the Senate will confirm at least a few 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. That was Elaine Chao, the wife of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). ) to be Minister of Transport.
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 to have Biden's nomination confirmed — on the night of January 20, 2021. The first full Cabinet-level vote did not come until January 22, when the Senate confirmed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The coming weeks will be full of 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 another matter entirely. (All images via Getty Images)
So, while everyone is trying to get into their suits on Monday night, watch for the Senate to vote on a nominee or two on the evening of January 20th.
Fox was told the most likely nominees might include Rubio — because he is a well-known figure in the Senate and enjoys bipartisan support. Another possibility is CIA Director nominee John Ratcliffe. The Senate previously confirmed Ratcliffe's appointment as Director of National Intelligence during the first Trump administration. He is also a well-known entity in the halls of Congress and served as a Republican congressman from Texas. His hearing will be held tomorrow.
Frankly, the ambitious timeline for approving so many nominees quickly could be difficult.
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The Senate Energy Committee had to postpone Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's confirmation hearing from Tuesday until Thursday due to delays due to paperwork. Veterans Affairs Secretary nominee Doug Collins is not controversial. He is a former Republican congressman from Georgia. But his confirmation hearing on Tuesday was postponed until next week. Collins was perhaps one of the figures who could be quickly confirmed.
Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi is also one who could receive confirmation relatively quickly. Her hearing is Wednesday and Thursday. So maybe next week for her? Not clear.
But let's examine the record of the Senate confirming President Biden's nominees and pitting him against expectations for the new president. Trump administration.
Attorney General Pam Bondi's pick is one of a few Trump nominees who may enjoy relatively quick confirmation, though delayed voting is not uncommon. (Mandel and/AFP via Getty Images)
Following 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 get the idea.
Each candidate must go through a hearing. Committees have different rules about how a nomination should be presented for debate. So that may take some time as well. Some candidates may be grouped onto the committee, depending on opposition or attendance issues. Then there may be a debate on the ground.
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If Democrats filibuster the nominee, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) may need to initiate a procedural maneuver to break the filibuster. The process of simply initiating a procedural vote to break the filibuster takes only parts of three days. If the nominee's opponents continue to not back down, it is possible that senators will drag out debate on the nominee for a day or two – although Senate He broke the filibuster.
In February 2017, Mike Pence became the first Vice President to break a tie to confirm a Cabinet official. He did so to confirm former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
In other words, floor time is at a premium. There are several parliamentary “longitudes” within which the Senate can take certain procedural votes to advance a nominee. That's why the Senate held a 7 a.m. procedural vote on DeVos' nomination in February 2017. The Senate also confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price at around 2 a.m. one morning.
Mike Pence was the first vice president whose vote was necessary to break a tie in confirming a Cabinet secretary — that secretary is former Education Department head Betsy DeVos. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
And we haven't even gotten to other important nominations for the administration – like Pete Hoekstra to be Ambassador to Canada or Mike Huckabee to be Ambassador To Israel. There are more than 800 positions that require Senate confirmation.
To speed things up, the Senate can confirm a group of non-controversial nominees “en masse.” This means that the Senate approves nominees from both sides to ensure there are no objections. If there are none, the Senate compiles a slate and confirms a group of nominees together in one fell swoop.
But this is a long and tedious process. It will take months to confirm the various positions in the Trump administration. It consumes hours of word time. This is the most valuable commodity in the Senate. Keep in mind that the push to confirm Trump's nominees comes as the Senate tries to reach a timing agreement and amendments to pass the Laken-Riley Act and a bill to punish the International Criminal Court over the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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This is a brutal process. It will likely take some early mornings, very late nights and even some weekend sessions before this is settled.
