Senators are set to work through the weekend in order to confirm or advance several of President Donald Trump’s nominees and overcome efforts by Democrats to delay using procedural hurdles.
Negotiations broke down Tuesday evening between Democrats and Republicans to hold a final vote on John Ratcliffe to be CIA director, prompting GOP leadership to tee up procedural steps to advance Ratcliffe, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) to be homeland security secretary, and Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary.
“I hope that no one is making any plans for the weekend or the evenings because we’re going to get these nominees confirmed,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) said. “What this is really about is trying to drag out all of these nominations to play procedural games.”
The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 14-3 on Monday to advance Ratcliffe to the full chamber in a bipartisan vote. Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence in the final months of Trump’s first term, garnered the support of the panel’s top Democrat.
“I think we need to move quickly,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said. “But I also know that every senator has a right to object. I would like to move quicker, and I’m going to talk to some of them about it.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) blocked Ratcliffe from receiving a speedy confirmation vote over concerns about his qualifications and loyalty to Trump.
“He politicized intelligence in a way that raises, for many of us, real questions about whether he’s going to spin highly sensitive information his agency will gather,” Murphy said in a floor debate exchanged with Cotton. “I don’t think it is too much to ask to have a full, real debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor, given the serious questions that have arisen about his qualifications to do this job.”
Cotton shot back that the true reason for the delay was to “deny President Trump his Cabinet in a prompt and timely fashion.”
“We’re going to get these nominees done — the easy way or the hard way,” Cotton said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the first Cabinet member confirmed on Monday following Trump’s inauguration in a unanimous 99-0 vote. CIA chief is not a Cabinet-level position, but Ratcliffe’s nomination was among those prioritized by Senate Republicans for his proximity to U.S. national security.
GOP leadership is also seeking expeditious confirmations for Noem and Hegseth, though Democrats have raised serious concerns about Hegseth’s fitness for the job that were amplified Tuesday following a new allegation of misconduct from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law. Hegseth has denied wrongdoing.
Unless Democrats relent on plans to put up procedural roadblocks for the trio of nominees, their final confirmation votes are likely to come sometime over the weekend.
DEMOCRATS WARM UP TO SOME OF TRUMP’S CABINET NOMINEES DESPITE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING OTHERS
Ratcliffe, a former congressman, vowed to operate his position in an apolitical manner that is “absolutely essential” for the intelligence community. It was a promise that came during his confirmation hearing amid concerns from Democrats he may politicize the nation’s spy agency. Ratcliffe sought to assure senators on the Intelligence Committee that he’ll put “wokeness” in his crosshairs in a nature consistent with national security interests.
“Above all will be a strict adherence to the CIA’s mission,” Ratcliffe said. “We will collect intelligence, especially human intelligence, in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult. We will produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgement or infect our products.”
