Republicans take on Biden’s cabinet, but without Trumpian fury



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“I think it’s very, very important that we have a Homeland Security secretary in place as soon as possible,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters.

But Tuesday’s confirmation hearings also showed Biden may soon come up against the scorched earth policy Democrats lament for having seized much of the Republican Party. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Has said he will oppose the quick review of Biden’s candidate for Homeland Security head Alejandro Mayorkas, while ensuring Biden does not confirm some of its senior national security officials at the inauguration. Day, as did Trump and his predecessors.

Mayorkas came under scrutiny during his hearing by some Republicans over a 2015 inspector general report outlining allegations of politically motivated favoritism in the issuance of visas, which he dismissed . But Hawley’s objection focused on what the Missouri Republican saw as Mayorkas’ hostility to the border security measures he and other immigration supporters support.

Yet the fact that it was a political goal was yet another sign that Republicans of all stripes may be looking to turn the page on the Trump presidency, which has been marked by endless controversy, tweets and surveys that have seriously hampered Trump’s presidency. Republicans can still try to block much of Biden’s legislative agenda, but ultimately they’re not going to fight him every meeting.

Future Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the Senate to confirm Biden’s national security nominees on inauguration day. Such a move would not be unusual. Trump had his Pentagon and Homeland Security nominees confirmed on his first day as president in 2017. But Biden will need Republican cooperation to catch up to that pace – especially with an impeachment trial looming ahead. above the room.

“President Biden should at least have the same officials in place on the day he takes office,” Schumer said. “These are the expectations and the tradition of any administration, especially now in the midst of an internal security crisis.”

In a letter to the GOP conference obtained by POLITICO, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told members that the Senate could vote on the Cabinet nominees on Wednesday afternoon.

Trump’s impending impeachment trial for instigating the murderous siege on Capitol Hill could pose difficulties for Biden as he seeks to implement his agenda. Some senior Republicans are calling on Biden to ask Democratic leaders to call off the trial so the chamber can focus on other business, although Schumer has previously claimed the Senate will hold a trial.

“I would like [Biden] to be operational, but it has to help, ”said Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.). “If we’re going to impeachment, he has no one to blame but himself because we’re going to focus on impeaching the president, you can’t do both at the same time.”

As President Nancy Pelosi continues to delay formal transmission of the impeachment article, delaying the start of the trial, several Republicans have joined Democrats’ calls for quick confirmations in the meantime.

Among the list of candidates who appeared before the Senate on Tuesday was Avril Haines, Biden’s candidate for director of national intelligence. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), The new vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said he wanted “to fill this critical national security post as early as possible in the Biden administration”.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee hearing for Janet Yellen’s appointment as Treasury Secretary was in stark contrast to that of Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The former film producer and investment banker had been confronted with deep skepticism from Democrats; no one has challenged the credentials of Yellen, a former head of the Federal Reserve.

As Senate Republicans announced disagreements with Yellen, they kept their questions focused on politics, including the tax code and the amount of the national debt. Yellen’s confirmation should ultimately go smoothly.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) Has also expressed concern over Biden’s coronavirus relief plan, a sign that GOP support for another stimulus package may be fragile.

“I look forward to working with you, but I have to admit that the contours of the stimulus bill as proposed by the Biden administration are going to make this difficult,” Toomey said at the hearing. “The only organizing principle I can discern is that it seems to be spending as much money as possible for the sake of spending it.”

Aside from Toomey and a handful of others, most GOP members have avoided acknowledging that Trump presided over a flood of red ink. With Biden in the White House, worries about rising budget deficits are sure to return.

Antony Blinken, Biden’s candidate for secretary of state, as well as Pentagon candidate Lloyd Austin, also faced cordial receptions from Senate Republicans, but not without criticism.

Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) Told Blinken that “it would be a grave mistake to confirm a Secretary of State who has a proven track record in repeatedly making the wrong decisions in foreign and national security policy American. “

And Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), A potential candidate for the White House for 2024, announced on Tuesday that he would oppose a waiver allowing Austin to become Secretary of Defense, which is necessary because ‘Austin has been out of the military for less than seven years. The hawkish GOP senator voted for the waiver to allow Jim Mattis to become Trump’s defense secretary.

While Biden may ultimately see his candidates confirmed with a simple majority, his broader agenda will require the cooperation of a Senate that is now evenly divided, leaving no room for Democratic dissent and demanding input from Republicans on most. bills.

In his remarks on Tuesday, McConnell warned that the 2020 election results suggested that no party had an explicit mandate from voters.

“The Americans elected a tightly divided Senate, a tightly divided House and a presidential candidate who said he would represent everyone,” McConnell said. “We need to seek bipartisan accord wherever we can and we respectfully verify and balance each other where we need to.”

Zachary Warmbrodt and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.

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