DeVos Confirmed

Posted on February 7, 2017February 7, 2017

Today, the Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. The vote was 51-50 — a tie that forced Vice President Mike Pence to cast the deciding vote. The Vice President has never had to cast the deciding ballot in a confirmation vote before.

DeVos becomes the nation’s 11th Secretary of Education after long and contentious confirmation process.

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted with the all the Senate’s Democrats and independents in voting against DeVos. They are the first Republican lawmakers to break with their party in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet confirmation process.

Senate Democrats held the floor throughout the night and Tuesday morning, a final push in a vocal campaign by DeVos’ opponents to convince one more Republican to vote against DeVos’ confirmation.

DeVos Nomination Heads to Full Senate Vote

Posted on February 3, 2017

Late Thursday/early Friday, the Senate cleared procedural hurdles that would bring the nomination of Betsy DeVos to the floor for a vote by the full Senate next week. A number of groups have argued against her nomination to become the Secretary of Education and two Republicans have recently stated that they will oppose her. With the current make-up of the Senate 52 to 48 in the Republicans’ favor, and with no Democrats expected to vote for DeVos, Vice President Mike Pence may be forced to cast the tie-breaking vote.

More Nominations Move Forward

Posted on February 2, 2017

The Senate continues to make progress on more Trump Cabinet nominees. Both the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Budget committees voted to move forward the nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to head the Office of Management and Budget on party-line votes.

In the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the majority used the same procedures employed by the Finance Committee Republicans to address a Democratic boycott of a vote on a nominee: the committee rules, which require at least two members from the minority party for a vote, were suspended and the nomination of Scott Pruitt as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency was approved by the majority. Thursday was the second day of a Democratic boycott of the committee.

Both nominations now head to the floor for consideration by the full Senate.

More Drama on the Nominations Front

Posted on February 1, 2017February 1, 2017

Earlier on Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Democrats continued their boycott of committee votes to confirm Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) for Secretary of Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary. The committee rules require at least one member of each party to be present to hold votes. During the committee meeting, in order to get around the boycott, the committee rules were suspended and the nominations of Price and Mnuchin were reported out favorably.

Meanwhile, a vote by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the nomination of Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency has also been delayed by a boycott by the committee Democrats. The committee is expected to reconvene at a future date.

During a sometimes-heated session, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out favorably the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for the post of Attorney General along a party line vote of 11 to 9.

In separate speeches on the Senate floor, both Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced their intention to vote against the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. Both Senators, who are members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nomination, had voted in favor of moving DeVos’s nomination forward in committee while expressing reservations about some of the views of the nominee. Given the current make-up of the Senate, and if the other Senators vote along party lines, it is very possible that Vice President Mike Pence may cast the tie-breaking vote in her favor.

Also on Wednesday, the full Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State by a vote of 56 to 43.

Senate Committees Set to Vote on Cabinet Nominees

Posted on January 30, 2017January 30, 2017

A number of Senate committees are scheduled to vote on Cabinet nominees this week.

Monday evening, the Senate Finance Committee is slated to vote on the nomination of Steve Mnuchin to be the Secretary of the Treasury. The following day, the committee is also currently scheduled to vote on the nomination of Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to become the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Committees are expected to vote on the nominations for at least four other Cabinet secretaries on Tuesday. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled votes on Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to be the Secretary of the Interior and former Texas governor Rick Perry to be the Secretary of Energy for Tuesday. Also tomorrow, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is slated to vote on Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to formally vote on the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for the position of Attorney General.

The Environment and Public Works Committee is slated to vote on the nomination of Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma Attorney General who has been tapped to head the Environmental Protection Agency, on Wednesday. The nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to head the Office of Management and Budget will be headed to a vote before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday as well.