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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - February 1, 2017
Trump Administration (first term)  Vice President Mike Pence Cabinet • White House staff • Transition team • Trump's second term |
Domestic affairs: Abortion • Crime and justice • Education • Energy and the environment • Federal courts • Firearms policy • First Amendment • Healthcare • Immigration • Infrastructure • LGBTQ issues • Marijuana • Puerto Rico • Social welfare programs • Veterans • Voting issues Economic affairs and regulations: Agriculture and food policy • Budget • Financial regulation • Jobs • Social Security • Taxes • Trade Foreign affairs and national security: Afghanistan • Arab states of the Persian Gulf • China • Cuba • Iran • Iran nuclear deal • Islamic State and terrorism • Israel and Palestine • Latin America • Military • NATO • North Korea • Puerto Rico • Russia • Syria • Syrian refugees • Technology, privacy, and cybersecurity |
| Polling indexes: Opinion polling during the Trump administration |
This is the February 1, 2017, edition of an email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition, cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
U.S. Supreme Court nominee
Neil Gorsuch
Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, was chosen by President Donald Trump as his nominee to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. Gorsuch was on a list of 21 potential candidates to the Supreme Court that Trump released during his 2016 presidential campaign. Gorsuch’s nomination now heads to the U.S. Senate. In March 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland. The Senate took no action on the nominee. Garland’s nomination was returned to Obama at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress on January 3, 2017; Obama did not resubmit the nomination prior to the end of his presidency.
Read our overview on the Supreme Court vacancy.
A user’s guide to Supreme Court confirmation
With increased attention on Trump’s nominee and the process by which he is confirmed, we’re here to give you a guide to the terms, events, and people who will play notable roles in Gorsuch’s confirmation.
Key terms
“Filibuster”: A tactic for delaying or blocking legislative action by speaking on the Senate floor for an indefinite length of time. According to the Senate rules, senators have the right to unlimited debate .
“Cloture”: A vote to end debate on the Senate floor. Since 1975, cloture has required a vote of three-fifths of the U.S. Senate, or 60 votes total. This is the only procedure outlined in Senate rules to overcome a filibuster.
“Nuclear option”: A change in Senate rules to reduce the number of votes necessary to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. The number is currently 60 but could be reduced to a simple majority of 51 if rules are changed. Senate Democrats changed the rules in 2013 to approve a number of Obama judicial appointments but did not apply the rules change to U.S. Supreme Court nominations.
“Originalism”: The notion that the Constitution is a document that means the same thing today as it did when it was ratified in 1787. This was a guiding principle for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who described his perspective as: “The Constitution that I interpret and apply is not living but dead, or as I prefer to call it, enduring. It means today not what current society, much less the court, thinks it ought to mean, but what it meant when it was adopted.” Alternatively, the idea of a Living Constitution is the opposing belief, that the Constitution is an evolving document that can change over time.
Confirmation process
After the president announces a nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, the confirmation typically proceeds in the following manner:
- The Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate a nominee’s background, gleaning a sense of his or her judicial philosophy and temperament, which helps inform whether the senator will support the nominee. The most public aspect of the process is the nominee’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee where he or she takes questions. The hearing, which is kept open at the discretion of the chairman, can last more than a day, as members, particularly opponents, verbally spar with the nominee. Having the nominee appear before the committee became a part of the process beginning with the nomination of John M. Harlan in 1955.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a vote on the nominee. The committee’s practice has been to send the nomination, whether or not the nominee wins a majority in committee, to the full Senate to allow the chamber to decide whether he or she should be confirmed.
- The debate in the Senate is scheduled by the Senate majority leader in consultation with the minority leader. This is the point at which “filibuster” and “cloture” are salient terms.
- A vote on the nominee follows debate. For a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation, the nominee must receive sixty votes.
Senators to watch
- Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley indicated that he wanted to hold confirmation hearings for Gorsuch in six weeks. In a statement on Gorsuch’s nomination, Grassley expressed support for Trump’s nominee, saying, “Judge Gorsuch is universally respected across the ideological spectrum as a mainstream judge who applies the law without regard to person or his own preferences. By all accounts, he has a record of deciding cases based on the text of the Constitution and the law.”
In March 2016, Grassley called for the Senate to not hold hearings on Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland, saying, “A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.”
- Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): Feinstein is the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s policies and Cabinet nominees so far. She voted against Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, and indicated she has reservations about Gorsuch. After Trump announced the nomination, Feinstein noted her concerns, saying, “Judge Gorsuch voted twice to deny contraceptive coverage to women, elevating a corporation’s religious beliefs over women’s health care.”
- Oregon’s Democratic senators: Prior to Trump’s nomination of Gorsuch, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) indicated that he would filibuster any nominee who wasn’t Merrick Garland. In a press release, Merkley said, “This is the first time in American history that one party has blockaded a nominee for almost a year in order to deliver a seat to a President of their own party. If this tactic is rewarded rather than resisted, it will set a dangerous new precedent in American governance.”
After Trump’s announcement, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also said he would attempt to block Gorsuch’s confirmation. Wyden cited Gorsuch’s opposition to Oregon’s 2006 Death With Dignity Act as a concern: “His opposition to legal death with dignity as successfully practiced in Oregon is couched in the sort of jurisprudence that justified the horrific oppression of one group after another in our first two centuries. No Senator who believes that individual rights are reserved to the people, and not the government, can support this nomination.”
- Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): As Senate majority leader, McConnell would direct any attempt to change Senate rules and invoke the “nuclear option” for confirmation. So far, McConnell has not indicated strongly one way or the other on changing the Senate rules. Prior to Gorsuch’s nomination, McConnell told The Hill, “[W]e don’t have any current plans on the rules.” Speaking with reporters this morning, Trump encouraged the nuclear option if Senate Democrats blocked Gorsuch’s nomination.
Bush-era throwback: In 2005, when he was majority whip in the Senate, McConnell threatened the nuclear option to get George W. Bush’s nominations confirmed, saying: “The time has come to change the rules. I want to change them in an orderly fashion. I want a time agreement. But, barring that, if I have to be forced into a corner to try for majority vote I will do it because I am going to do my duty as I see my duty, whether I win or lose…. If we can only change an abominable rule by majority vote, that is in the interests of the Senate and in the interests of the nation that the majority must work its will. And it will work its will.”
- Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): Schumer is the Senate minority leader and has indicated that the U.S. Supreme Court nomination is one area in which Senate Democrats would seek to oppose Trump and his administration. In an interview with MSNBC on January 3, 2017, Schumer suggested that Senate Democrats would uniformly vote against any Trump nominee who was not what Schumer called mainstream. Schumer said, “We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee. If they don’t appoint someone who’s really good, we’re gonna oppose him tooth and nail. … It’s hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support.” When asked if he would work to “hold the seat open,” Schumer replied, “Absolutely.”
Read more about Senate reactions to Gorsuch’s nomination.
Outside influence
- Judicial Crisis Network: The limited government advocacy organization is planning a $10 million ad campaign aimed at Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2018. The Judicial Crisis Network’s chief counsel, Carrie Severino, explained their approach, saying, “We are preparing to launch the most robust campaign for a Supreme Court nominee in history and we will force vulnerable Senators up for re-election in 2018 like Joe Donnelly and Claire McCaskill to decide between keeping their Senate seats or following Chuck Schumer's liberal, obstructionist agenda.”
- Center for American Progress (CAP): The CAP announced that it would oppose the Trump administration primarily through increased tracking and accountability efforts. In a statement on the nomination of Gorsuch, CAP President Neera Tanden called the nominee “a conservative extremist who will put Trump’s agenda and wealthy special interests ahead of the needs of average Americans.”
Confirmations
Elaine Chao
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 93-6 to confirm Elaine Chao as secretary of transportation. The six no votes were cast by Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Bernie Sanders (Vt.). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Chao's husband, voted present.
Chao was the third Cabinet nominee to be confirmed by the Senate.
Rex Tillerson
Rex Tillerson was confirmed today as the next secretary of state by a vote of 56-43. The vote fell mostly along party lines with all Republican senators voting in favor of Tillerson’s nomination. Three Democrats—Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Mark Warner (Va.)—and Independent Angus King (Maine) voted to confirm Tillerson. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons (D) did not vote.
Committee votes
Betsy DeVos
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions voted to send the nomination of Betsy DeVos for secretary of education to the Senate for confirmation. The vote went along party lines twice; after the first party-line vote, Democratic members of the committee objected because Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) voted by proxy.
Tom Price and Steven Mnuchin
On Tuesday, Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee boycotted the meeting to vote on the nominations of Tom Price (for secretary of health and human services) and Steven Mnuchin (for secretary of the treasury). Today, Democrats again boycotted the committee’s meeting. In a letter to committee chair Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the committee’s Democrats said, “We have significant concerns that both Mr. Mnuchin and Congressman Price gave inaccurate and misleading testimony and responses to questions to the Committee.”
Today, Republicans suspended the committee’s rules requiring a member of the minority party be present for a vote and voted to send both nominations to the Senate for confirmation.
Jeff Sessions
Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R), cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote today. Next, the U.S. Senate will vote on Sessions’ nomination.
Hearings
David Shulkin
David Shulkin, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today. We will have more details on what we learned in his hearing in our next edition.
Andrew Puzder
Yesterday, Trump’s nominee for secretary of labor, Andrew Puzder, had his confirmation hearing with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions delayed for a fourth time. According to The Washington Post, a new hearing date will be set when “the Senate receives key paperwork laying out Puzder’s financial disclosures and detailing his plan for avoiding future conflicts of interest.”
Scott Pruitt
The Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works was scheduled to vote on the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency today. All 10 of the committee’s Democrats boycotted the meeting, and no vote was held on Pruitt’s nomination.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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