The timeline for confirming Biden’s Cabinet nominees could accelerate when Democrats take control of the Senate in the coming days. But Republicans, amid the coronavirus pandemic and the Capitol riots, have been slow to schedule confirmation hearings.
The first set of hearings is scheduled to take place January 19 — days and in some cases weeks after those hearings have begun in recent transitions — with no dates for confirmation set.
That makes next Tuesday — the day before Biden’s inauguration — one jam-packed with confirmation hearings, with Biden’s nominees to helm the defense, homeland security, state and treasury departments all scheduled to take place.
The proximity to Biden’s inauguration makes it unlikely Biden administration confirmations will proceed at the same pace as his predecessors in recent decades, with all new presidents in the last 30 years seeing at least some Cabinet nominees confirmed on the days of their inauguration.
The early days of Biden’s administration will see a collision in Congress of the Senate’s trial of outgoing President Donald Trump, the process of confirming Biden’s nominees and talks over Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus vaccine and economic stimulus proposal.
With Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer set to replace Republican Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader following Biden’s swearing-in and the swearing-in of two Georgia Democrats who won runoffs there this month — making Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote in a Senate split 50-50 — the confirmation schedule could accelerate.
Biden officials are pressing for the Senate to operate on multiple tracks at once, holding confirmation hearings during Trump’s impeachment trial. In a briefing with reporters Friday evening, Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki pointed to Trump’s first impeachment, noting that the Senate held unrelated hearings during that trial.
“Our expectation and hope and belief is that we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Psaki said. “We are urging fast action on getting these nominees into place … as close to day one as possible.”
Biden’s transition team made a push this week to get confirmation hearings for national security posts onto Senate committees’ schedule.
Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Friday that while hearings for key posts have since been scheduled, “the American people deserve assurances that swift floor votes will follow.”
“Progress towards confirmations still lags significantly behind where it was at this point during the last two presidential transitions, and it is essential that key national…
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