The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Confirming Trump’s Cabinet Nominees

Expect traffic jams in the Senate soon as the race to confirm President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees gets underway.

In short, nothing can happen until President-elect Trump takes office on January 20th.

Yes, there will be plenty of Trump loyalists attending various inaugural balls around town.

But the Senate gets down to business when the graduation festivities are over at the Capitol. A handful of committees are already scrambling to book “signals” to release or send various candidates. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a meeting to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for Secretary of State on Jan. 20 at 3:15 p.m. And if tradition holds true, the Senate will confirm at least some of them within hours of Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

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Let history be our guide:

The Senate approved Trump’s Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in 2015. R-Ky), to be Secretary of Transportation.

In the year The Senate confirmed one of President Biden’s nominees in 2021 shortly after he was sworn in. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes was the first confirmed Biden nominee — on the night of January 20, 2021. The first, full cabinet-level vote didn’t come until Jan. 22, when the Senate confirmed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

So, while everyone is trying to slip into tuxes on Monday night, look for the Senate to vote on a nomination or two on the evening of January 20th.

Fox has been told that multiple candidates could include Rubio — because he is a known majority in the Senate and has bipartisan support. Another possibility would be John Ratcliffe, a candidate for CIA director. The Senate previously confirmed Ratcliffe as director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration. He was also a well-known figure in the halls of Congress and served as a Republican congressman from Texas. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.

To be honest, the large schedule of quickly approving multiple candidates can be challenging.

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The Senate Energy Committee had to postpone Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum from Tuesday to Thursday due to paperwork delays. Veterans Affairs secretary nominee Doug Collins is not controversial. He is a former GOP congressman from Georgia. But Tuesday’s confirmation hearing was postponed until next week. Collins may be one person who can be quickly proven.

Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi is also likely to receive a relatively quick confirmation. The hearing is Wednesday and Thursday. So maybe next week for her? Not clear.

But let’s examine the history of the Senate’s confirmation of President Biden’s nominees and contrast it with the expectations of the new Trump administration.

Attorney General pick Pam Bondi is one of the few Trump nominees to receive relatively quick confirmations, though delays in the vote are uncommon. (MANDEL/AFP via Getty Images)

After Lloyd Austin, the Senate confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on January 25, 2021 and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on January 26. Most cabinet officials are not confirmed until February or March. The Senate did not confirm Interior Secretary Deb Holland 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 nominee must pass a hearing. Committees have different rules for how to release a candidate to the floor. So that may take some time. Some nominees may be sealed by the committee due to objections or attendance issues. Then there may be an argument on the floor.

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If Democrats field a nominee, Senate Majority Leader John Tune (R.D.) may need a procedural gambit to break the filibuster. The process of initiating a procedural vote to break a filibuster takes just three days of classes. If the nominee’s opponents still don’t get relief, senators can drag out a day or two of debate on the nominee — even if the Senate breaks the filibuster.

In the year In February 2017, Mike Pence became the first vice president to break ties to confirm cabinet authority. He did this to confirm former education secretary Betty DeVos.

In other words, floor time is at a premium. While the Senate can take certain procedural votes to advance a candidate, there are various parliamentary “meridians.” That’s why the Senate held a procedural vote at 7 a.m. on DeVos’ nomination in February 2017. The Senate confirmed then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price one morning around 2:00 a.m.

Mike Pence was the first vice president to need a vote to break the deadlock in the confirmation of a Cabinet secretary — that secretary was former Education Department head Betty DeVos. (Drew Anger/Getty Images)

And we haven’t even found other candidates important to the administration — like Pete Hoekstra to serve as ambassador to Canada or Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel. There are more than 800 positions that require Senate confirmation.

To speed things up, the Senate can confirm some non-controversial nominees “en bloc.” That means the Senate clears candidates on both sides to ensure there is no opposition. If there are none, the Senate compiles a list and confirms the group of nominees simultaneously.

But this is a long and tedious process. Confirmation of various positions in the Trump administration will take months. It spends hours on floor tiles. This is the most expensive product in the Senate. Recall that the push to confirm Trump’s nominees comes as the Senate attempts to pass a landmark agreement and amendments to the Laken Riley Act and the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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This is a monster process. And this may consume some early mornings, very late nights and even some weekends before it is settled.