Senate Republicans are attempting to fast-track several of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees this week, including the confirmation of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as secretary of state as early as Monday in the hours following inauguration.
Republicans were in talks with Democrats to reach a timing agreement to circumvent procedural hurdles and allow for swift confirmation of Rubio after Trump was sworn back into office for his second term, according to GOP aides. Rubio’s confirmation is expected to clear with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Several other nominees will receive prioritized floor time in hopes of confirming them this week, including John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) as homeland security secretary, and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.
Democrats plan to exercise powers at their disposal to slow-walk Hegseth’s nomination and draw out the procedural process by several days over their opposition to the former Fox News host and military veteran who they say is unqualified to run the Pentagon. Hegseth appears to have the Republican support needed to be confirmed, despite allegations including sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse that threatened to derail his nomination.
Rubio’s nomination will advance from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday afternoon, along with a vote in the Homeland Security Committee to advance Noem and Russell Vought to be director of the White House budget office, a position he held during Trump’s first administration.
Trump was on track to have just one Cabinet member, Rubio, installed on his first day in office. The statistic would mark a minor departure from his first term, even with Trump in recent months naming nominees during the presidential transition at a historic pace. Two Trump nominees were confirmed on the day he was inaugurated in 2017: James Mattis as defense secretary and John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security.
By the second week, just two additional nominees, Elaine Chao for transportation secretary and Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, were confirmed.
None of former President Joe Biden’s nominees were confirmed on Inauguration Day. Three of his nominees, Lloyd Austin for defense secretary, Antony Blinken for secretary of state, and Janet Yellen as treasury secretary, were confirmed within one week and another two by the second week.
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The Trump and Biden terms marked stark departures from the Day One confirmation senators afforded 10 of former President Barack Obama’s nominees, eight of whom were confirmed by voice vote.
Confirmation hearings in related committees have occurred or been scheduled at a faster clip than Biden and on pace with Obama and former President George W. Bush, according to the Center for Presidential Transition.