Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch have been scheduled to begin March 20.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is expected to last three to four days. Questioning of the Judge Gorsuch will begin on March 21. Senators will hear testimony from outside experts as well as the nominee.
Nominee for Labor Secretary Andrew Puzder is expected to withdraw his nomination shortly. Given recent developments on Puzder’s record (both professional and private) and recent issues with other Trump advisors, Republican support for the nominee has weakened. His hearing, set for this week, is expected to be cancelled, and his official resignation is expected shortly.
By a vote of 52-48, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s nominee for OMB Director, has cleared a procedural vote. This move would allow a final vote on Mulvaney Thursday evening.
Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, will get a vote around 7 p.m. tonight in what’s become a drawn-out process in the Senate. Following the final vote on Mnunchin there will a procedural vote on on David Shulkin to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Mnunchin is expected to pass and once he does the Treasury Secretary is expected take on a big lift immediately as President Trump has promised to unveil a big tax-cutting plan in coming weeks. Whatever is reveals, it is sure to set off a partisan firestorm. It will fall to Mnuchin to translate the President’s campaign promises on tax relief for all individuals and corporations into legislation that might be approved by a politically polarized Congress.
As early as this week, the Senate is also likely to confirm Rep. Mick Mulvaney as the new White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director. Mulvaney, a founding member of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, is also sure to rankle defense hawks worried about military spending.
Trump has promised to increase defense spending to boost a military force, so even if Mulvaney supports reining in all federal spending, the defense budget is likely to increase by tens of billions of dollars above current levels in each of the next few years. The Pentagon is expect to seek tens of billions of dollars from Congress to implement Trump’s vow to rebuild the military.
It is expected that the Senate will vote on at least on other nominee this week — either Perry, Pruitt, or Zinke — but no other nominees have not been scheduled for a vote thus far.
Meanwhile, the next big nomination fight over President Trump’s Cabinet nominees is moving from Betsy DeVos to Andrew Puzder, who will appear before the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday. The hearing has been delayed four times while the Office of Government Ethics awaited paperwork. It took some time to work out a plan to divest holdings in CKE Restaurants, the fast-food company (parent to the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s chains) of which Puzder is chairman.
On the other side of the Hill, the House convenes at noon to consider a bill on surveying the boundary along the Red River in Oklahoma and Texas. Later this week, the House is expected to take up five “disapproval resolutions” to roll back rules undertaken during the Obama Administration including two Labor Department rules on savings arrangements for non-governmental employees and a resolution that would disapprove the District of Columbia Council’s approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016.
In the wee hours of the morning (just after 2 am), the Senate voted 52-47 to approve the nomination of Rep. Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Price had solid backing from Senate Republicans. The chamber’s Democrats delayed the final vote by holding the floor for the full 30 hours permitted to them under Senate rules, continuing a tactic they utilized for two other Cabinet nominations this week.
The former Republican House Budget Committee Chairman is expected to move quickly to help Republicans substantially revise the ACA.
Shortly after, the Senate voted to limit debate on Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnchin by a 53-46 vote. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) broke ranks and voted with the Republicans, while Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sat out the vote. The vote to limit debate on Mnuchin’s nomination moves him one step closer to confirmation. As with all other nominees, Senate Democrats now have the right to debate for 30 hours before moving to a final vote.
Senate Democrats have fiercely opposed Mnuchin’s nomination. They refused to show up to the committee-level vote on his confirmation after arguing that the nominee provided insufficient answers to their questions on foreclosures by the bank he once led, OneWest. Republicans slammed Democrats as being obstructionists. The Senate is expected to have a final vote on Monday.
On February 16, the Senate Finance Committee also will hold its first hearing on the nomination of Seema Verma to become the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.