Cabinet nearly bare as Trump takes over
President has fewest confirmed picks of any chief executive in recent years
WASHINGTON — By the time Donald and Melania Trump had their first dance at an inaugural ball Friday evening, Trump had two Cabinet members in place.
That’s a historically low number for a president’s first day in office — and it’s largely thanks to Senate Democrats delaying confirmation of Trump’s selections.
Trump had nominated much of his Cabinet at a historically quick clip, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had hoped to have up to seven of those nominees in place hours after Trump took the oath of office Friday
McConnell’s optimism was buoyed because Republicans control the Senate and Democrats can no longer filibuster Cabinet nominees by requiring 60 votes to pass instead of a simple majority.
All Democrats, who oppose Trump’s picks, can do is slow the process, by asking some nominees back for questioning or dragging out a vote for days. ‘We need to … grow up’
Turns out that’s what they’re doing. The Senate on Friday confirmed two of Trump’s nominees — retired Gen. John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security and retired Gen. James Mattis to lead the Department of Defense.
The rest, say Democrats, need more vetting.
Here’s Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talking to reporters Thursday: “Let me be clear, Democrats will allow the confirmations of and vote for nominees who would not have been chosen by our party, but what we will not support are nominees who are so extreme in the viewpoints or their noncompliance with the ethics laws and practice that they have demonstrated themselves to be unfit.”
That has Senate Republicans frustrated, to say the least.
“We need to, sort of, grow up here and get past that,” McConnell said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” this month. “We need to have the president’s national security team in place on Day One.”
McConnell has historical precedent to back up his point, said Robert David Johnson, a history professor at Brooklyn College.
On his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter had eight of his Cabinet nominees confirmed.
Within two days of his inauguration, President Ronald Reagan had 12 of his nominees in place.
Within 24 hours after his inauguration, Bill Clinton had 13 in place.
Even President George W. Bush, whose transition period was swept up in a dramatic Supreme Court decision about his election, had seven of his nominees confirmed Jan. 20, and four more in four days.
President Barack Obama — as Republicans are pointing out — had seven in place by the time he and Michelle Obama had their first dance. Partisan process
Johnson says the only historical comparison to Trump’s thin Cabinet on his first day in office could be President George H.W. Bush, who had zero nominees confirmed on his first day
Bush’s problem was that he was facing a Senate controlled by the other side.
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, was drawing out Bush’s nominees to, “send a message” that the Senate is a place to be reckoned with, Johnson said.
The fact Trump started his presidency with so few Cabinet members in place underscores just how partisan this process has become.
For most of this century, there was little to no political drama surrounding nominees.