Washington With the confirmation of Marco Rubio as secretary of state and the nominees of newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, the Republican-led Senate got right into things on Monday.
After Rubio was unanimously reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, GOP leaders swiftly proceeded to send him to the floor for a vote, with Democratic support. Rubio is currently a senator from Florida. He easily passed with a 99-0 vote.
Rubio’s 14-year Senate career comes to an end with the vote. In 2016, he lost Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. In the years that followed, the two patched things up, and Rubio has adopted many of Trump’s policies.
At least one cabinet-level nominee has been confirmed on inauguration day for every new president since Bill Clinton, and the Rubio vote is no exception.
Giving advice and getting consent is part of our job. We will therefore take that duty seriously. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., stated on the TODAY show Monday that we will take that job seriously, as do our senators, both Democrats and Republicans. However, we also recognize that we have a responsibility, which the voters in November, I believe, made quite plain.
For a nominee to be confirmed in the Senate, 51 votes are needed. But if Democrats don’t want to rush votes to the floor, they can postpone them for a few days.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., outlined the Democratic stance on Trump’s choices: “We will neither reflexively oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration nor rubber-stamp nominees that we feel are grossly unqualified.”
Four further Trump nominees were also approved by Senate committees on Monday.
According to a Senate Intelligence Committee spokesperson, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 14-3 to forward John Ratcliffe’s nomination to the full Senate for CIA director. Whether he will be expedited to the floor is unclear.
Along party lines, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Pete Hegseth’s nomination as secretary of defense by a vote of 14–13. The Democratic Party is vehemently against him.
Additionally, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Committee voted 13-2 to promote Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary and 8-7 to advance Russell Vought’s nomination as White House budget director.
The whole chamber will hear the nominees who receive a majority vote in committee. All senators must then agree in order to permit a floor vote on any of them.
Under a new administration, it is customary for the Senate to give votes on national security nominations top priority.
The appointment of Avril Haines as director of national intelligence by then-President Joe Biden was ratified on January 20, 2021. Additionally, John Kelly was confirmed as the head of the Department of Homeland Security on January 20, 2017, one of Trump’s candidates.
Finally, Thune said that all of Trump’s selections could be verified.
He answered, “I believe they all have a way to get there.” Since they receive the difficult questions when they leave the committee, I always wait to make a decision until after they have completed their confirmation hearings. And that process should proceed, in my opinion, and I promise that it will be fair.