What could delay further deliberations: President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept, with Republicans reluctant to say Biden is the winner, means Democrats are ready to join the presidential election or hold courtesy meetings as they begin.
As Biden moves quickly to fill the slots with key – legislators from health to defense are warning who they accept and who they don’t.
Massachusetts Democrat Sen. “I think she’s made some very good choices,” Elizabeth Warren told CNN on Wednesday. “I want to see some strong progressives in the team.”
Others made it clear that Biden should make more bold choices if his party wins two Georgia Senate races in January and takes over the chamber.
“If we win the Senate, I think the administration should be open to more aggressive appointments or appointments, which would support a more aggressive agenda to help working families,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that Biden should not name candidates. With “a rigid mindset.”
“I think it’s a very damaging thing that could happen to the Democratic Party that will completely shrink us in 2022, if we have a bunch of tough people, or a tool strategy and a tool mindset,” the New York Democrat told CNN. Said.
Byden has done a complex balancing act by trying to appease the left when dealing with Republicans in the Senate that are likely to resist many of his nominees – such as Nira Tanden, head of the Liberal Think Tank Center for American Progress . Biden will serve as the next White House budget director. His nomination has sparked the enthusiasm of Republicans, many of whom have been attacking Twitter for years, and warned Biden not to name future candidates for positions with similar ideologies.
Senate Majority Whip, South Dakota Sen. John Thuen said the G.O.P. The pushback from the side should be a “warning sign” for Biden – especially if the Republicans win one of Georgia’s two runs, making sure they catch this. Majority in the new Congress.
“If things go well in Georgia and we are in the majority, I would expect a fairly high level of consultation,” Thuen said. When asked if he would commit to securing votes on all of Biden’s nominees, Thun finally said: “We will take them case by case, and if they come.”
Some Republicans say Biden should now consult with GOP leaders, including majority leader Mitch McConnell – although they have not acknowledged that Biden won the election.
“I think the next administration is sensible in reaching out to the leader,” said Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, referring to McConnell who has not yet been identified as president-elect. “It’s not his job, it’s his job to make the case and coordinate the confirmation process.” He said handling the Tanden nomination “feels like amateur hours.”
Wednesday, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is set to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the GOP majority, also warned Biden against preparing to name the attorney general. He told CNN that Biden should choose a nominee who mentions Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who will receive “better treatment than Sessions,” whose bruises were confirmed in the party’s line in 2017 after the war.
“It simply came to our notice then [it should be someone who has] “Got bipartisan support,” Grassley said of Biden’s next choice to run the Justice Department. “And the sessions weren’t treated that way.”
In particular, on the first day of the new presidency, the Senate has confirmed the appointment of several key cabinet ministers. Trump saw his Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security confirm his first day, although he was less than his immediate predecessor.
“I told them, regardless of what happens in Georgia, we need to do this as soon as possible,” Menendez said Wednesday evening. “He said, ‘I do not disagree with you, and I agree with you that they are a state of national security.’ So I couldn’t find a definitive one, ‘Yeah, we’ll do that as soon as possible.’ But I have a feeling he has disposed of it at this stage. We’ll see. ”
On January 20, after Biden’s inauguration, Menendez said, “I’d love to see,” but declined to comment on candidates named Rishe. Asked twice this week about the nominees, Rishe fired the CNN reporter and did not take questions.
“I don’t know much about it – so I haven’t had a chance to work on it,” Rubio said in Haynes’ nomination on Wednesday. “We’ll wait for the paper to come in.”
Privately, Democrats are lobbying Biden’s team to make some key choices. Rep. The highest-ranking black leader in Congress. Jim Klubern Bain to Ohio Rep. Marcia is urging Lavar to serve as agriculture secretary because she and others want to add more African-Americans to the cabinet.
But Montana Democrat Sen. John Tester told CNN he has requested Biden’s top adviser, Ted Kaufman, to join the former Democratic Sen. Heidi prefers a hit amp.
“She didn’t tell me to do that,” Test said of her lobbying for a hat-trick. “But I think it’s going to get better.”
Some potential Biden nominees are already generating opposition from leading Liberals in Congress.
“This is a tough number,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN about the possibility of former Chicago mayor Reham Emanuel running the transportation department. “I hope the administration knows better.”
Also, there are currently some major venues in Congress in the mix. Sen. Tom Udal, who is retiring at the end of the year, is a New Mexico fellow Democrat rep. With Deb Holland, he is preparing to become head of the interior department.
“My name is for the interior,” Udal told CNN on Wednesday. “We need a good westerner there.”
“The president faces a lot of difficult decisions when he is elected,” Warren said Wednesday. What I care most about is that he is able to do the work that the American people need. ”
If Democrats win both Georgia seats during the Jan. 5 runoff election, they will control a Senate majority under the 50-50 Senate, meaning if the G.O.P. They can’t afford to lose the Democrats if they join the opposition. But if Republicans have a majority, Biden will need GOP support and hopes Republican presidents will schedule votes and hearings on key nominees.
Tedden, may face a difficult path to confirmation. The White House’s Office Fees Management is run by two committees, including his nominees for management and budgeting, the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which is headed by the Ohio Sen. Rob Portman G.O.P. Under the majority is for the position of chairman.
Portman told CNN he would hear Tandon become the next White House budget director, but he urged Biden to withdraw the withdrawal.
“They should reconsider her nomination in light of her particular candidacy and her very liberal background,” Portman said.
Asked why his choice was different, as the GOP-led Senate confirmed Mikel Mulwan – a former member of the Conservative House Freedom Caucus – for the same job under Trump, Portman said: “Probably not democratic control. Would. Senate. ”
Portman’s panel on nominations with the Senate Budget Committee has joint jurisdiction, chaired by Sen. of South Carolina. Lindsay Graham G.O.P. Will under the majority. Graham is non-committed to moving forward with the hearing on Tanden.
“Let’s see what happens to the Elect College College Lodge,” he said, when voters meet in his state capital on December 14 to make the electorate the official winner.
CNN’s Lure Ren Koenig contributed to the story.
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