Democrats slow GOP rush to confirm Trump nominees

Senate Republicans had hoped to rush through the confirmation of a flurry of Cabinet nominees in the days immediately after President Trump took office. But Democrats expressing reservations about some choices are slowing the push, frustrating Republicans and denying the new president the swift action he demanded.

“What this is really about is trying to drag out all these nominations, to play procedural games,” said Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the No. 1 Republican. 3, on Tuesday, as Democrats blocked the fast-track confirmation of John Ratcliffe to be governor of the Central Bank. Intelligence Service. “We’re going to get these nominees done the easy, collegial way — or, apparently, the hard way.”

A few hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in, Democrats agreed to the swift 99-0 confirmation of Marco Rubio, their Senate colleague, as secretary of state. But they have since shown they are willing to use procedural tactics to stymie other nominees even if they are destined for confirmation, including forcing time-consuming floor votes on action that usually happen by mutual agreement.

Democrats said some Trump picks merited closer scrutiny.

“If all of President Trump’s nominees were as qualified and experienced as Senator Rubio, they would sail through the Senate with bipartisan support,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, New York’s Democrat and minority leader. “But unfortunately, too many of the president’s nominees don’t match Senator Rubio’s caliber. Too many have troubling backgrounds. Too many seem unprepared for the job and proved it during testimony.”

The slow early pace has attracted Mr. The attention of Trump, who in a meeting Tuesday with the top two White House congressional Republicans revived the idea of ​​bypassing the Senate altogether on nominations and trying to install his picks without votes while the Senate is in recess. Senate Republicans balked at the idea when the president first raised it after his election victory, but Sen. John Thune, the South Dakota Republican and majority leader, did not rule out that approach if Democrats continue what his side considers unnecessary delays.

“Obviously it’s something that, as you know, he’s expressed an interest in in the past,” Mr. Thune about Mr. Trump and recess appointments. “I think we’re going to find out here pretty quickly if the Democrats want to help us get through some of these nominations in a way that gets us back on track with the way it was done before they last two presidencies.”

Mr. Thune pointed to President Barack Obama’s administration, which saw a dozen of his cabinet picks confirmed in about two weeks in 2009. But that was in an era when nominees were generally less controversial and had to be broadly appealing enough to scale a potential threshold of 60 votes in the Senate.

Under a 2013 rule change, executive and judicial nominees can now be confirmed by simple majority vote. Republicans can ultimately override any Democratic opposition if they stay united. And Mr. Trump selected several provocative and divisive nominees for his cabinet, including Pete Hegseth, his choice for defense secretary, whose nomination has been dogged by allegations of personal misconduct.

Mr. Thune took steps on Tuesday evening to force votes on both Mr. Ratcliffe and Mr. Hegseth and Kristi Noem, Mr. Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Thune and other top Republicans said they intended to keep the Senate going over the weekend if necessary to win Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation if Democrats were determined to run out the clock.

It was unlikely that the Democrats would give much to Mr. Hegseth, especially after receiving a sworn statement from a former sister-in-law of his on Tuesday that included new allegations of excessive drinking and threatening and violent behavior toward his second wife.

“This conduct would disqualify any service member from holding a leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as defense secretary,” Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.

Top Republicans dismissed the new information as coming from a biased source and said they did not expect it to hinder Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation. “I think the nomination will go forward,” said Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and chairman of the committee.

Republicans criticized Democrats for delaying the approval of Mr. Ratcliffe, noting that he had strong bipartisan support on the Intelligence Committee and had served in top intelligence roles in the past.

But Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said he believed a slight delay was warranted.

“There are serious concerns that many of us have about John Ratcliffe’s ability to distance himself from President Trump’s political interests in his work as CIA director,” Mr. Murphy. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask to ensure that we have a full, real debate lasting two days on the Senate floor, given the serious issues that have arisen.”

As for Republican accusations that the delay harmed national security, Mr. Murphy dismissive.

“Spare me,” he said, pointing to Mr. Trump’s pardon this week of hundreds of people who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The sparring over nominations comes as some of the most contentious are still in the early stages of review and weeks away from a floor vote. Public hearings are still to be held for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. Both are expected to face strong Democratic opposition and potentially some Republican opposition as well.

In addition, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he intended to oppose the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the FBI. week.