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“He is our president-elect. All presidents are entitled to their cabinet, ”said Murkowski. “Our job, our role is to make sure he picks people who are… in the mainstream. And they are good, credible qualified candidates. And if he does that, of course, I’ll work with him.
Of course, Biden would have much more flexibility in nominating progressive candidates if Democrats could win the Georgia races on January 5 and control the Senate 50-50 after Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president. But other than that, avoiding a scorched earth battle over nominations to start his presidency will be a consolation for Biden.
Biden said the bargaining would begin in a few days, telling reporters on Thursday that he would announce his Treasury secretary around Thanksgiving. He said he was a candidate who “will be accepted by all elements of the Democratic Party, from progressive coalitions to moderate coalitions.” He left out whether Republicans could find that acceptable.
The possibility of shared control between the White House and the Senate lacks many recent precedents. The last president to be introduced alongside a Senate of the opposing party was George HW Bush, who followed a fellow Republican president and retained part of his predecessor’s cabinet. The chamber was much less polarized then, but the Senate still rejected John Tower, Bush’s candidate for Defense Secretary, showing how dangerous a lack of Senate control can be for a new president.
As for Biden, just about everyone in the Senate agrees that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Or Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Will not be confirmed by a GOP Senate. But it’s certainly possible to imagine someone like Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) Or Doug Jones (D-Ala.) Winning confirmation for roles like Secretary of State or Attorney General.
Biden could also bypass the Senate and appoint his cabinet candidates on an interim basis, as Trump has done on several occasions during his presidency. It also wouldn’t be a shock to see some nominees drop: most administrations are lacking with at least one high-level choice.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Who warned that a Republican-led Senate could mean an early constitutional crisis for Biden, said his fears had been allayed somewhat.
“I’m less worried. I had some good conversations with my fellow Republicans about what the process might look like. I have high hopes, ”Murphy said. “I have the impression that there is a critical mass out there that believes in making sure the president has a cabinet. I have a feeling that maybe we can get there. “
Ultimately, the question of whether to grant Biden’s candidates a verbal vote rests with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Who has enjoyed a strong working relationship. with the former vice president in the past. Since the election, however, he has not spoken to Biden, nor has he considered Biden the president-elect.
McConnell has turned out to be an individual blockade on some of President Barack Obama’s appointments. He delayed confirmation from Attorney General Loretta Lynch during a dispute over a human trafficking bill and simply ignored Merrick Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court and other court choices. But Romney has said he assumes the GOP leader will put Biden’s Cabinet in for the votes. McConnell declined to comment for this story.
Biden is expressing no concerns at this time.
“President-elect Biden looks forward to working in good faith with both sides in Congress to install from day one skilled and experienced leaders capable of saving lives from the pandemic, responding to urgent threats to our national security and restore our economy. on track, ”said Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for Biden.
And it might be in the GOP’s best interest not to derail Biden’s Cabinet choices in the early days of his presidency. Republicans will have more than half a dozen competitive Senate seats in 2022 and at best a very slim majority next year.
“It depends on who they appoint. I have always worked with the Obama administration. I supported Loretta Lynch. Ask my fellow Republicans, ”said Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who is due for reelection. “We want to make sure they’re the right people. But we’ll give them a fair shake.
“It will just require negotiations,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a leading ally of McConnell. “If they want the Cabinet to be confirmed, they would do well not to name radical progressives and people who are in trouble.”
Whether things are moving quickly is another story. It only takes one senator to demand roll-call votes, which would delay confirmation of at least some candidates after inauguration day.
Trump faced strong opposition to many of his choices and only saw his Defense and Homeland Security Secretaries confirmed on day one. Even if Biden eventually sees his cabinet installed, it could take a while.
Battles over nominations infuriate both sides. Republicans are still convinced that filling out Trump’s cabinet was such a job, although some of his candidates were clearly flawed and the administration did not submit the documents quickly for others. Democrats get angry at the way Obama’s candidates have been treated and how the GOP is sneaking up judge after judge under Trump.
Biden campaigned as someone capable of restoring a sense of normalcy both to the country and to the Senate. Some Democrats share Murphy’s view that it is possible; others are more pessimistic.
“I hope they will. I would expect them to. If they don’t, I guess that’s a whole other level of obstruction, ”said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “I think most of the people across the aisle are good people who don’t do things for political reasons.”
“I’m tempted to say they have to meet the conditions and standards. But they haven’t respected them so far. So I’m worried, ”added Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “Mitch McConnell’s goal during the first term was to make Obama a president for one term. He did not do it. The same kind of obstructive motives can be at play now.
Tester voted for some of Trump’s cabinet candidates, while Blumenthal opposed most of them. And since the Senate changed its rules to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for most candidates in 2013, only a simple majority is required to confirm them.
But if America ends up with a GOP Senate and a Democratic White House next year, party line votes aren’t going to cut it for Biden. Instead, the two sides will have to work together to endow Biden’s government, despite all the bitterness between them.
“If he wins, then he will have the right, I think, to a cabinet,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), who still does not acknowledge that Biden won the election. “I don’t mind voting for people that I wouldn’t choose or have a different point of view than me. I am simply not going to vote for a socialist.
Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.
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