WASHINGTON — The GOP-led Senate hopes to hit the ground running Monday and begin confirming newly inaugurated President Donald Trump’s nominees on his first day.
Republican leaders will be looking for unanimous agreement among senators to hold votes on the floor on one or more of Trump’s picks for his administration. If they are granted speedy consideration, each nominee will take 51 votes to secure confirmation.
“We have a job to do, and advice and consent is part of it. So, we’re going to take that role seriously. Our senators take that role seriously, Republican and Democrat, and we will,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday on the “TODAY” show. “But we also understand that we have a job to do, and I think it was spelled out very clearly by the voters in November.”
When the chamber gavels in at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, five nominees are scheduled to receive votes from the committees that oversaw their confirmation hearings: Marco Rubio for secretary of state in the Foreign Relations Committee; John Ratcliffe for CIA director in the Intelligence Committee; Pete Hegseth for defense secretary in the Armed Services Committee; and both Russell Vought for White House budget director and Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary in the Homeland Security and Governmental Committee.
The nominees who get a majority vote in committee will be sent to the full chamber. From there, it’ll take an agreement among all senators to allow a floor vote Monday on any of them. There are a few candidates who could meet that bar, most notably Rubio and Ratcliffe. But it isn’t guaranteed.
Such an agreement to hold a floor vote is unlikely to materialize for Trump’s more controversial picks, like Hegseth. He could take several more days to confirm even if he’s approved in committee.
The Senate has a tradition of prioritizing votes on national security nominees under a new administration.
Every new president since Bill Clinton has had at least one Cabinet nominee confirmed on inauguration day.
On Jan. 20, 2021, Avril Haines, then-President Joe Biden’s pick to be director of national intelligence, was confirmed. And on Jan. 20, 2017, several of Trump’s nominees were confirmed, including John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate’s first act Monday will be to vote on the Laken Riley Act, a bill to crack down on offenses pertaining to theft among migrants in the U.S. illegally, at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Senate could stay in session for hours after that to confirm nominees who have enough support to reach the floor.
Ultimately, Thune predicted all of Trump’s picks will be confirmed.
“I think they all have a path to get there,” he said. “Now, some haven’t had their confirmation hearings yet, so I always reserve judgment until they come out of the committee because that’s where they get the hard questions. And I think it’s important that that process play out, and what I’ve guaranteed is a fair process.”
