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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - February 10, 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 10, 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.
Confirmation process overview
In the first three weeks of President Donald Trump’s presidency, seven of his 15 Cabinet nominees have been confirmed by the Senate:
- Secretary of Defense James Mattis was confirmed on January 20, 2017, by a vote of 98-1. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was the only senator to cast a vote against him.
- Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly was also confirmed on January 20, 2017. Eleven Democratic senators voted against his confirmation for a final vote of 88-11.
- Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao was confirmed with minimal opposition on January 31, 2017, receiving support from 93 senators. Her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), voted present.
- The following day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was confirmed on February 1, 2017. Three Democrats supported his nomination: Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), and Mark Warner (Va.). Independent Angus King (Maine) also voted in favor of Tillerson.
- In a history-making vote, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was confirmed on Tuesday. As president of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence was present to break a tie vote, bringing the final roll call to 51-50. It was the first time such a tie-breaking vote was cast for a Cabinet nominee. Democrats uniformly voted against DeVos and were joined by two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine).
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ confirmation came Wednesday in a 52-47 vote. Support and opposition ran along party lines with the exception of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who backed Sessions' nomination.
- Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) was confirmed as secretary of health and human services this morning in a party-line vote of 52 to 47. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) noted the importance of moving along Price’s confirmation to replacing the Affordable Care Act and “stabilizing the healthcare markets.”
Read more about healthcare policy under the Trump administration.
Trump expressed frustration with the progress of his Cabinet nominees’ confirmations, tweeting on Tuesday, “It is a disgrace that my full Cabinet is still not in place, the longest such delay in the history of our country. Obstruction by Democrats!”
As compared to the past five administrations, Trump has the fewest Cabinet members in place at this point in his presidency. However, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush did not have full Cabinets until halfway through March, and Barack Obama holds the modern record for taking the longest time to fill his Cabinet, doing so on April 28, 2009.
Click here for an overview of the confirmation process for all of Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
Eight of Trump’s Cabinet nominees are still awaiting confirmation in the Senate. Two of them have not had confirmation hearings.
Nominees awaiting a confirmation hearing
Secretary of Agriculture
- Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Trump’s nominee for secretary of agriculture, was his last Cabinet nominee to be announced on January 19, 2017. Politico reported on Monday that Perdue had not yet submitted his preliminary paperwork to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. In the interim, one Democratic senator—Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)—has already indicated that she will support Perdue’s nomination.
Secretary of Labor
- After having his confirmation hearing postponed four times due to missing ethics and financial disclosure forms, Secretary of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder has been scheduled to appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Thursday, February 16. Puzder’s nomination gained renewed attention after it was reported earlier this week that he had once employed a houseworker living in the United States without legal permission.
Nominees awaiting a confirmation vote in the Senate
Secretary of the Treasury
- Secretary of the Treasury nominee Steven Mnuchin passed through the Finance Committee without objection on February 1, 2017, after all Republican members voted favorably for him. They suspended the committee’s rules requiring a member of the minority party be present for any vote after Democratic committee members twice-boycotted the committee’s meetings in opposition to Mnuchin’s nomination. His confirmation vote is scheduled late on Monday, February 13.
Secretary of the Interior
- Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Interior, was recommended by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on January 31, 2017, with support from four Democratic committee members. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said this week that Zinke’s vote had been deprioritized behind the more contested nominations of DeVos, Mnuchin, Price, and Sessions.
Secretary of Commerce
- Secretary of Commerce nominee Wilbur Ross passed through his Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee review on a voice vote on January 24, 2017, but has yet to have his confirmation vote in the Senate scheduled.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Ben Carson, Trump’s nominee for secretary of housing and urban development, also received a unanimously favorable report on January 24, 2017, from the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. No confirmation vote has been scheduled.
Secretary of Energy
- Secretary of Energy nominee Rick Perry passed through his review in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources with a vote of 17 to 6. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said that Perry’s confirmation vote could come early next week.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- David Shulkin, Trump’s nominee for secretary of veterans affairs, was unanimously advanced from committee review on Tuesday. His confirmation vote in the Senate is scheduled on Monday, February 13.
Ninth Circuit issues ruling on Trump immigration executive order
On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—composed of William Canby Jr., Richard Clifton, and Michelle T. Friedland—unanimously upheld a temporary block against enforcement of the immigration executive order Trump issued on January 27, 2017, which suspended immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days.
Legal arguments
Last Friday, in response to federal lawsuits filed by the states of Washington and Minnesota challenging Trump’s executive order, George W. Bush appointee James Robart issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting federal employees from enforcing it.
The Department of Justice filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit over the weekend. At oral argument, which was conducted by telephone conference on Tuesday, the administration argued that the president has broad power over who may enter the United States and that executive decisions regarding national security should not be second-guessed in court.
The two states contended that the executive order amounted to religious discrimination and threatened the health of their economies.
The panel ruled on Thursday that the temporary restraining order would remain in effect because there were viable arguments the order violated the Fifth Amendment. It also acknowledged the deference courts give to the executive branch on matters of immigration and national security but noted that “neither the Supreme Court nor our court has ever held that courts lack the authority to review executive action in those arenas for compliance with the Constitution.”
Trump’s response
Trump suggested the decision would be detrimental to national security interests. "It's a political decision, we're going to see them in court, and I look forward to doing that. It's a decision that we'll win, in my opinion, very easily,” he told reporters on Thursday.
The Justice Department could appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The temporary restraining order would remain in place if the Supreme Court upheld the Ninth Circuit’s decision or if there were a 4-4 split. Alternatively, the administration could request an en banc rehearing on the matter before 11 of the Ninth Circuit’s 29 judges.
Read more about Trump's January 27, 2017, executive order on immigration.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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