Category: Uncategorized

As previously reported, the Trump Administration has asked approximately 50 members of the current Obama Administration

NIH indicated today that the resignation letter that NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., submitted to the incoming Administration has been returned, and he is being held over into the next administration. At this point, President-elect Trump’s transition team has not yet publicly announced whether Dr. Collins will serve in the role permanently or until a new director is in place.

More details about the upcoming confirmation hearings for Cabinet nominees are becoming available, including the dates and times of many of the hearings.

On January 10, the Senate Judiciary Committee will start its two-day confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) at 9:30 AM ET. The hearing will be webcast on the committee website here.

In addition to the Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, a number of other Cabinet nominees are scheduled to appear before the relevant Senate committees for their confirmation hearings on January 11. Retired general John Kelly, tapped by President-elect Trump to oversee the Department of Homeland Security, is scheduled to testify before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at 2 PM ET. The hearing will be webcast here.

Also on the 11th, the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is scheduled to hold its hearing on Transportation Secretary nominee Elaine Chao. Her appearance is currently set for 10:15 AM ET. Additional information about the hearing is available here.

As noted previously, Federal Relations will continue to monitor further developments on this front.

Although the new Trump Administration will not formally come into office until January 20, confirmation hearings for many of the Cabinet nominees will kick off the week of January 9.

For example, Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on at 10 AM EST on Wednesday, January 11. The hearing will be webcast and will be available here.

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who has been tapped to head the Department of Health and Human Services for the new Administration, is scheduled to appear before the HELP Committee on January 18. He will also testify before the Senate Finance Committee.

Not all of the confirmation hearings for Cabinet secretary nominations have been scheduled yet. In addition, no nominees have yet been named to head many of the federal agencies of great interest to UW, such as the National Institutes of Health, NOAA, and NASA.

Federal Relations will continue to monitor and update as nomination process moves forward.