Live updates from the Trump administration: immigration policies, DEI office closure and more

Hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in, Democrats accepted the quick 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 slow down other candidates, even if they are destined for confirmation, including forcing lengthy floor votes on actions that are usually done jointly. agreement.

Democrats said some of Trump’s choices merited closer scrutiny.

“If each 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, Democrat of New York and minority leader. “Unfortunately, too many of the president’s nominees do not match Senator Rubio’s caliber. Too many of them have difficult backgrounds. Too many people seem unprepared for this work, and this was proven in their testimonies.

The slow start caught the attention of Mr. Trump, who in a meeting Tuesday with the two top congressional Republicans at the White House resurrected the idea of ​​bypassing the Senate entirely on nominations and try to install his choices 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, Republican of South Dakota and majority leader, did not rule out the approach if Democrats persisted with what his camp considers unnecessary delays.

“Obviously, this is something that, as you know, he has expressed interest in in the past,” Mr. Thune said of Mr. Trump and the holiday nominations. “I think we’re going to find out here pretty quickly whether or not the Democrats want to help us carry out some of these nominations in a way that gets us back on track as we were before the last two presidencies. »

Mr. Thune recalled the administration of President Barack Obama, which saw a dozen of his cabinet picks confirmed in about two weeks in 2009. But that was at a time when nominees were generally less controversial and had to be attractive enough to broaden the debate. potential threshold of 60 votes in the Senate.

Under a rule change in 2013, executive and judicial branch nominees can now be confirmed by a simple majority vote. Republicans can ultimately overcome any Democratic resistance if they stay united. And Mr. Trump has selected several provocative and controversial candidates for his cabinet, including Pete Hegseth, his choice for defense secretary, whose nomination was rocked by allegations of personal misconduct.

Mr. Thune took steps Tuesday evening to force votes on Mr. Ratcliffe and Mr. Hegseth, as well as on Kristi Noem, Mr. Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, as early as Thursday. Mr. Thune and other top Republicans have said they intend to work the Senate through the weekend if necessary to secure Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation if Democrats are determined to run out of time.

Democrats appeared unlikely to give up much ground on Mr. Hegseth, particularly after receiving an affidavit Tuesday from one of his former sisters-in-law that included new accusations of excessive drinking and threatening behavior and abusive towards his second wife.

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

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

Republicans criticized Democrats for delaying Ratcliffe’s approval, pointing out that he had strong bipartisan support on the Intelligence Committee and had held senior intelligence positions. information in the past.

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

“Many of us have serious concerns about John Ratcliffe’s ability to distance himself from President Trump’s political interests in his work as CIA director,” Mr. Murphy said. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask to ensure that we have a real, full debate that lasts two days in the Senate, given the serious questions that have been raised.”

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

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

The wrangling over the nominations comes as some of the most controversial nominations are still in the early stages of review and weeks away from a floor vote. Public hearings have yet to be held for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. Both countries are expected to face strong Democratic resistance and potentially some Republican opposition.

Additionally, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he intends to oppose the nomination of Kash Patel to be FBI director. Mr. Patel’s appearance before the Judiciary Committee is scheduled for next week.