Democrats in the Senate
But GOP appears to have votes to OK remaining nominees
intend to drag out the all-hours session over the upcoming vote on controversial Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos.
WASHINGTON — Virtually all Democratic senators are expected to vote against President Donald Trump’s picks to lead the departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury and his top budget nominee — a historic rebuke of a first-term president’s Cabinet selections.
The Senate is scheduled to continue confirming Trump’s Cabinet nominees this week, with a vote scheduled for Tuesday to approve Betsy DeVos, nominated to run the Education Department. Senators are poised to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to serve as the next attorney general by the end of the week.
But those votes are expected to happen with little or no Democratic support. Only Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has announced plans to support Sessions. As of Monday, no Democrat has announced support for DeVos, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., nominated to lead Health and Human Services, or Steven Mnuchin, nominated as treasury secretary. They all are scheduled for up-or-down votes in the coming days.
Near-unanimous opposition to a first-term president’s Cabinet picks is rare and hasn’t happened in recent history. But it comes amid a growing furor among progressive groups calling on Democratic lawmakers to oppose all of Trump’s nominees and policies. A CNN poll released on Sunday showed that just 59 percent of Democrats approve of their party’s leaders, a sign that die-hard partisans want lawmakers to serve as a more aggressive check on Trump.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted that “if not total unanimity, we’re going to have near Democratic unity in opposing the remaining nominees for President Trump’s Cabinet. This unity makes clear just how bad this Cabinet would be for America’s middle class and those struggling to get there, and bodes well for the major battles ahead, including over the Affordable Care Act.”
Opposition to Labor nominee Andrew Puzder; Rep. Mick Mulvaney, RS.C., tapped to lead the Office of Management and Budget; and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency remains firm, but the final whip count is less certain, aides said. Votes on those nominees are not scheduled for a few more weeks. Puzder has not yet been scheduled for a confirmation hearing.
Republicans on Monday blasted Democrats for continuing to delay votes on Trump’s nominees, especially for forcing senators to run out the clock on procedural votes to prolong the inevitable.
Democrats announced in January that they would target eight Trump Cabinet nominees on the basis of their policy positions or lack of government experience. Only one of the eight, Rex Tillerson, has been confirmed — but he was the first secretary of state nominee to ever have to clear various procedural hurdles before a final vote.
Schumer’s declaration came as Democrats launched a last-ditch attempt to oppose DeVos by announcing that they will continue to speak out against her nomination through the overnight hours until the vote on Tuesday afternoon.
DeVos, a billionaire Republican power broker and charter school advocate, is expected to be confirmed with a one-vote margin. Two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have said that they will oppose her, meaning they would join all Democrats to cause a 50-50 tie. That means Vice President Pence would be called in to break the tie in DeVos’s favor.
Meanwhile, Republicans and conservative groups stepped up their campaign to secure confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee as the federal judge courted two Senate Democrats crucial to his winning a seat on the high court.
Judge Neil Gorsuch met Monday with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat running for re-election in a state that Trump won handily. Unlike some Senate Democrats who have already said they will oppose Trump’s nominee, both have said they will wait to decide.