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Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said “all of these nominees should receive a rigorous investigation, every one of them.”
“I’ll just say to Republicans: good luck explaining to your voters if you speed up the nominees for someone who isn’t even president yet,” Hawley told CNN. “I mean, Joe Biden hasn’t been sworn in. Good luck explaining that.”
While Biden’s selections have been quietly holding Zoom courtesy meetings with Republican and Democratic senators, various Senate committees have so far done little to prepare for impending confirmation hearings as members await the Georgia election to make clear what. party will be in charge. the next two years. But if Georgia races stay too close to call for days, or even weeks, it could delay confirmation hearings even further.
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, did not compromise when asked if he would have confirmation hearings before Jan. 20 for Avril Haines to serve as director of national intelligence.
“First of all, we don’t know who the majority will be,” Rubio said. “We have to wait until Georgia before making decisions about it.”
Additionally, Trump’s refusal to concede the race continues to put Senate Republicans in an awkward position, as many are unwilling to break ranks with the president and his futile attempts to override the will of the voters. Republicans are likely to be divided on whether they should give the green light to confirmation hearings in January before Opening Day.
When asked if he would be willing to see the confirmed nominees for Jan. 20, Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson said, “If they have controversial appointments, they’re going to have a problem with that … they’re going to be interested. in stopping people who have really controversial opinions that maybe we should be waiting to confirm. ”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his leadership team have indicated that a Republican-led Senate would indeed schedule floor votes for Biden’s nominees, but how fast they move is another question.
Senate majority whip John Thune said Monday that “there would be an attempt” on some of the national security appointments “to move them quickly to make sure there is no lapse.”
But when asked if they would be confirmed by the inauguration, Thune was less clear.
“That will depend on the will of our conference leadership and the individual committee and the type of nominees they send,” Thune told CNN.
What happened in 2017
On Inauguration Day 2017, Trump won Senate confirmation for two of his nominees, for defense and national security, while President Barack Obama got six of his nominees confirmed on the day of his swearing in, and President George W. Bush saw seven of his nominees. The selections get Senate approval when he took office two decades ago.
But it’s an open question whether that will happen for Biden, even his national security officials, like retired General Lloyd Austin to run the Pentagon, who has been warmly received by some influential Republicans, like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. There are active discussions about holding his confirmation hearings during the week before Biden’s inauguration, but doing so could provoke a backlash from the right.
“Terrible idea,” Hawley said of Austin’s confirmation on the first day of the Biden administration. “I would never support that.”
It remains to be seen which candidates will receive quick consideration, especially if Republicans retain control of the Senate. Some, such as Treasury Secretary candidate Janet Yellen, have been embraced by both parties. He has the backing of the possible next Chairman of the Banking Committee, Pat Toomey.
Others like Antony Blinken to head the State Department have received mixed criticism from the Republican Party, and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch privately indicated to Democrats that he is willing to consider his nomination early in the new year, but without public or private commitments.
Others like Neera Tanden, Biden’s choice for White House budget director, have received strong pushback from the Republican Party. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has also been greeted with skepticism by Republicans like Senator John Cornyn, who called the former California congressman “a radical.”
Some nominees who have received support from the Republican Party have had a cold reception from certain Democrats, such as Biden’s pick for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack.
“We’ve had our fair share of fights,” said Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, who had been pushing for former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to get the go-ahead from the department. Noting his concerns about the consolidation of the agricultural industry, Tester said of the Vilsack selection: “It would not have been my choice.”
Johnson, who now chairs the Senate for Homeland Security and Government Affairs but will depart from that seat in the next Congress, said he spoke to Mayorkas by phone recently. But he is skeptical about the choice.
“I’m a little concerned about some of your positions on some of the regulations, some of the laws that will create incentives for more illegal immigration,” said Johnson, who will remain a senior committee member next year.
Positive reviews
Some of Biden’s picks have had positive encounters with Republican senators, like Haines, who met Cornyn at Zoom earlier this month.
“He certainly seems like a very talented person, very smart,” Cornyn said. “I asked him about his consulting arrangements and I told him that for me, transparency was absolutely necessary, and I didn’t want people to work in sensitive national security positions that had been working for our adversaries and that would bring conflicts of interest. He tried to make sure that was not his case. “
When asked if the nominees should be confirmed before opening day, Cornyn said: “I don’t think there should be an unnecessary delay.”
Rubio had yet to speak to Haines and said, “I really don’t know about her … They will treat her like any other nomination.”
Rubio, who is also a Senate Foreign Relations fellow, also offered little opinion on Blinken and Thomas-Greenfield.
“Those are not the people that I would elect, but I am not the president, so when those nominations come before us, we will review the file, ask the questions and make decisions on that basis,” he said.
Risch has declined to comment on the nominations that are scheduled to go before his committee. But the leading Democrat on the panel, Senator Bob Menendez, said Risch appears willing to advance Blinken’s nomination early in the new Congress.
“I think he understands and agrees that it is one of the key national security positions that we need to get to early,” Menendez said after speaking with Risch. “I don’t have a confirmed commitment from him exactly when, but I have a feeling, from all the things that we have to deal with, that he is quite willing to get to this sooner than not.”
Possible Pentagon concerns
One of the biggest questions is faced by Austin, whose nomination is further complicated because Congress would have to grant him a waiver to serve as the top civilian leader in the department since he retired in 2016. The law requires that a former member of the armed forces is out of uniform for seven years before he can be confirmed for that position, something that has only been resigned twice before, including for James Mattis to serve as Trump’s defense secretary in 2017.
Many Democrats are squeamish about granting the waiver, but Austin has been privately lobbying Democrats and even told House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith that he would be willing to testify in public to reassure Democrats. skeptics about his belief in civilian control of the military.
“It’s an extremely easy and complicated case,” said Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Easy in the sense, of course he’s qualified to be Secretary of Defense … It’s complicated because this waiver issue is not a minor thing. It’s not a technicality. We take it very seriously. We were really reluctant to do it. by Mattis, even in dire circumstances that do not apply to the situation at this time. ”
Kaine said he spoke with Austin, who pointed out how critical it is to rebuild the leadership team at the Pentagon and restore morale in the department.
“He thinks he can do that,” Kaine said.
Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, a Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN that he and the committee’s top Democrat, Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed, are considering Jan.14 to celebrate two hearings for Austin to be secretary of state. defending. One would be to examine the question of whether the waiver is granted, while the second would be the actual confirmation hearing.
When asked if his goal was for Austin to be confirmed for opening day, Inhofe said, “That’s not my goal. Maybe it’s others. I think we should go ahead and do that part.”
Inhofe said he opposes the seven-year restriction on anyone to serve as secretary of defense.
“You want to get the best person. It never made sense to me,” he said.
Several other top Republicans appear open to other Biden elections, including Pete Buttigieg, who is Biden’s nominee to head the Department of Transportation.
“He’s certainly articulate, thoughtful, and works well with others,” said Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican who chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, was open to Biden’s election of Obama’s former chief of staff, Denis McDonough, to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“At VA it’s very important to have someone who has managerial skills, and certainly one day they will be able to influence management,” Moran said, adding that McDonough can meet that requirement.
The most important decision left for Biden is who he can choose as attorney general.
Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, who if Republicans have a majority the next Congress can return to his post as chair of the Judiciary Committee, declined to say when he would hold confirmation hearings for an attorney general candidate.
“I won’t really answer any questions on that until I find out if we are the majority,” Grassley said. “No Republican president is going to make a decision until we know what the status is. So it’s kind of a caucus decision not to talk about nominations until we get it.”
But Republicans have a clear favorite: Doug Jones, the outgoing Democratic senator from Alabama who is on Biden’s short list to head the Justice Department.
“Doug would sail,” said Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
CNN’s Sarah Fortinsky contributed to this report.
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