Trump transition: President-elect predicts that all of his Cabinet picks will win Senate confirmation.
NEW YORK — Facing a week of high-profile tests for his administration-in-waiting, President-elect Donald Trump predicted Monday that all of his Cabinet picks would win Senate confirmation even as Democrats charged that Trump’s team was ignoring standard vetting protocol.
“I think they’ll all pass,” Trump said of his would-be Cabinet, describing them as “all at the highest level.”
Trump’s confidence comes as lawmakers in both parties eagerly await the submission of background material from Cabinet picks, including billionaires whose extensive personal financial dealings have never faced public scrutiny. Senate Democrats urged GOP leaders to slow their aggressive hearing schedule, which this week includes Trump’s picks for the nation’s top diplomat, lead law enforcement officer and head of homeland security, among others.
“Bear in mind Presidentelect Trump’s nominees pose particularly difficult ethics and conflict-of-interest challenges,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “They come from enormous wealth, many have vast holdings and stocks, and very few have experience in government.”
One wealthy Trump pick who won’t require Senate confirmation: son-in-law Jared Kushner, who transition officials confirmed Monday would serve as a senior adviser in the new administration. Kushner, a New York real estate executive, is expected to exert broad sway over both domestic and foreign policy, particularly Middle East issues and trade negotiations.
While not subject to Senate approval, White House staff must publicly disclose personal financial information.
Addressing the Cabinet selections, Trump’s incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, insisted Monday, “Everyone who has a hearing this week has their paperwork in.”
It’s unclear, however, whether each had submitted the extensive list of requirements that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell requested of President Obama’s nominees eight years ago. Those include an FBI background check, detailed questionnaires and financial disclosure statements that include tax returns, according to a 2009 letter from McConnell that Schumer read Monday on the Senate floor.
“Everybody’ll be properly vetted as they have been in the past,” McConnell told reporters Monday after meeting privately with the president-elect in Trump Tower in Manhattan.
On Friday, however, Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub said in a letter to congressional leaders that his office “has not received even initial draft financial disclosure reports for some of the nominees scheduled for hearings.”
Among the committees that haven’t yet received the forms was the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has scheduled a hearing this week for Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick to lead the Education Department. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee said it had also not received the forms for Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, though a spokeswoman said they’re expected soon.
Committee aides said they had received ethics forms for Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general; Rex Tillerson, Trump’s choice for secretary of state; James Mattis, his pick for defense secretary; Rep. Mike Pompeo, his choice for director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Elaine Chao, his pick for transportation secretary.
Other confirmation hearings this week include retired Marine Gen. John Kelly for homeland security secretary and Ben Carson for housing secretary.
McConnell said he’s hopeful that up to six or seven of Trump’s picks, “particularly the national security team,” will be “in place on Day One.”
On Wednesday, Trump is to hold his first formal news conference in nearly six months.