Speculation on confirmations swirls in the Senate
WASHINGTON — Senators’ focus on President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees continued Wednesday afternoon, with some attention turning toward which nominees might be confirmed Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are currently in negotiations over which nominees could be swiftly confirmed. Democrats will need to cooperate to either confirm nominees by unanimous consent or agree to limiting time for their consideration.
The Senate Armed Services Committee also voted 26-1 Wednesday to favorably report retired Gen. James Mattis’ nomination for defense secretary. At the same time, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak publicly before it is announced said that Mr. Trump intends to nominate former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to serve as agriculture secretary, while four hearings were held by Senate committees on other Cabinet choices by the president-elect.
When asked about three national security nominees — Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to be CIA director, retired Gen. John Kelly to lead the Homeland Security Department and Mr. Mattis to lead the Pentagon — being confirmed Friday, Mr. Schumer hedged but seemed to tip his hand a bit.
“Those three nominees were not on the list of the nine who we had the most trouble with and wanted the most extensive hearings, and we’re discussing that with Sen. McConnell and some of the folks in the White House right now,” Mr. Schumer said.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, Dmo., the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said she expected Mr. Kelly to be confirmed Friday.
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s vote, meanwhile, means Mr. Mattis’ nomination can be sent directly to the Senate after he is formally nominated by Mr. Trump.
As for the broader issue of confirming Cabinet picks for agencies with more of a domestic focus, Mr. Schumer said, “This week we’ve made no progress at all.”
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he hoped seven Cabinet nominees would be confirmed Friday.
But Democrats have increasing concerns about some of Mr. Trump’s nominees with vast financial holdings, and they have pushed back on GOP demands for quick confirmation of nominees who haven’t filled out the basic paperwork nominees do.
Mr. Trump’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, revealed he did not pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household employee.
At a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing Wednesday, Democrats also raised concerns about Rep. Tom Price investing in biomedical companies while working on health care policy. The Georgia Republican was before the committee for his confirmation hearing to be the next HHS secretary.
“Everything that we have done has been above board, transparent, ethical and legal,” Mr. Price told the committee.
He also said Wednesday that the new administration won’t “pull the rug out” from those covered by “Obamacare.”
Meanwhile, breaking with Republican orthodoxy, a new Trump administration will work quickly to redo the North American Free Trade Agreement, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Mr. Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, told Congress on Wednesday.
At the same time, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Mr. Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, said Wednesday that climate change is real, breaking with both the presidentelect and his own past statements.
And elsewhere, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley voiced heavy skepticism about Russia and optimism about NATO, both deviations from some of Mr. Trump’s statements. She unequivocally shot down the idea of a Muslim registry or ban — which Mr. Trump has never fully disavowed — and told senators that as United Nations ambassador she would not hesitate to disagree with her boss.
In other news, Mr. Perdue, 70, would be the first Southerner to lead the Agriculture Department in more than two decades.
The agriculture secretary job is the last Cabinet position for which Mr. Trump hasn’t named a candidate.