Senate Republicans had hoped to rush through confirmation of a flurry of Cabinet nominees in the days immediately after President Trump assumed office. But Democrats, expressing reservations about some picks, are slowing the push, frustrating Republicans and denying the new president the quick action he demanded.
“What this is really about is trying to drag out all of these nominations, to play procedural games,” Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the No. 3 Republican, said Tuesday as Democrats blocked quick confirmation of John Ratcliffe to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. “We are going to get these nominees done the easy, collegial way — or apparently the hard way.”
Hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in, Democrats agreed to the speedy 99-0 confirmation of Marco Rubio, their Senate colleague, to be secretary of state. But they have since shown that they are willing to use procedural tactics to slow other nominees even if they are destined for confirmation, including forcing time-consuming floor votes on action that is usually done by mutual agreement.
Democrats said some Trump picks merited closer scrutiny.
“If every one of President Trump’s nominees were as qualified and experienced as Senator Rubio, they would sail through the Senate with bipartisan support,” Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and minority leader, said. “But sadly, too many of the president’s nominees do not match Senator Rubio’s caliber. Too many have troubling backgrounds. Too many seem unprepared for the job, and proved so during testimony.”
The slow early pace has drawn the attention of Mr. Trump, who in a meeting on Tuesday with the two top congressional Republicans at the White House resurrected the idea of bypassing the Senate altogether on nominations and trying to install his picks without votes while the Senate is in recess. Senate Republicans balked at the idea when the president first raised it after his election win, but Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican and majority leader, did not rule out the approach if Democrats persist with what his side considers needless delays.
“Obviously, that’s something that, as you know, he’s expressed an interest in in the past,” Mr. Thune said of Mr. Trump and recess appointments. “I think we’re going to find out here fairly quickly whether or not the Democrats want to help us get through some of these nominations in a way that gets us back on track with the way it was done prior to the last two presidencies.”
Mr. Thune pointed to the administration of President Barack Obama, who saw a dozen of his Cabinet picks confirmed in about two weeks in 2009. But that was in an era when nominees were generally less contentious and had to be broadly appealing enough to scale a potential 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
Under a rules change in 2013, executive branch and judicial nominees can now be confirmed by a simple majority vote. Republicans can ultimately override any Democratic resistance if they remain united. And Mr. Trump selected several provocative and divisive nominees for his cabinet, including Pete Hegseth, his choice for secretary of defense, whose nomination has been buffeted by allegations of personal misconduct.
Mr. Thune took steps on Tuesday night to force votes as early as Thursday on both Mr. Ratcliffe and Mr. Hegseth, as well as Kristi Noem, Mr. Trump’s nominee to run the Homeland Security Department. Mr. Thune and other top Republicans said they intended to keep the Senate working into the weekend if necessary to win confirmation of Mr. Hegseth if Democrats were determined to run out the clock.
Democrats appeared unlikely to give much ground on Mr. Hegseth, particularly after receiving a sworn affidavit from a former sister-in-law of his on Tuesday that included new accusations of excessive drinking and threatening and abusive behavior toward his second wife.
“This behavior would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the secretary of defense,” Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.
Top Republicans dismissed the new information as coming from a biased source and said they did not expect it to impede Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation. “I think the nomination is going to go forward,” said Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and chairman of the committee.
Republicans criticized Democrats for delaying the approval of Mr. Ratcliffe, noting that he had strong bipartisan support in the Intelligence Committee and had served in top intelligence roles in the past.
But Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said he believed a slight delay was warranted.
“There are serious concerns that many of us have about John Ratcliffe’s ability to distance himself from the political interests of President Trump in his work as C.I.A. director,” Mr. Murphy said. “I don’t think it is too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor, given the serious questions that have arisen.”
As for Republican accusations that the delay was harming national security, Mr. Murphy was dismissive.
“Spare me,” he said, pointing to Mr. Trump’s pardon this week of hundreds of people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The sparring over nominations comes as some of the most contentious ones are still in the early stages of review and weeks away from a floor vote. Public hearings still must be held for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. Both are expected to face strong Democratic resistance and potentially some Republican opposition as well.
In addition, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said on Tuesday that he intended to oppose the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the F.B.I. Mr. Patel’s appearance before the Judiciary Committee is set for next week.
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