The schedule for confirming the nominees for Biden’s cabinet could accelerate when Democrats take control of the Senate in the coming days. But Republicans, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and Capitol riots, were slow to schedule confirmation hearings.
The first set of hearings is scheduled for January 19 – days and, in some cases, weeks after the start of those hearings in recent transitions – with no dates for definite confirmation.
That makes the next Tuesday – the day before Biden’s inauguration – a throng of confirmation hearings, with Biden’s nominees to command the defense, homeland security, state and treasury departments, all scheduled to happen.
The proximity of Biden’s inauguration makes it unlikely that confirmations from the Biden government will proceed at the same pace as their predecessors in recent decades, with all new presidents in the past 30 years seeing at least some Cabinet nominees confirmed in the days of his inauguration.
The early days of the Biden government will see a collision in the Senate trial of outgoing President Donald Trump’s Senate, the process of confirming Biden’s nominees and negotiations on Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion vaccine against coronavirus and economic stimulus.
With Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer set to replace Republican Mitch McConnell as a Senate majority leader, after Biden took office and the oath of two Georgia Democrats who won the second round this month – making Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tiebreaker vote in a 50-50 Senate division – the confirmation schedule could accelerate.
Biden officials are pushing for the Senate to operate on multiple routes at the same time, holding confirmation hearings during Trump’s impeachment trial. At a meeting with reporters on Friday night, Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki pointed to Trump’s first impeachment, noting that the Senate held unrelated hearings during the trial.
“Our expectation, hope and belief is that we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Psaki. “We are asking for quick action to put these nominees in place … as close to the first day as possible.”
Biden’s transition team made an effort this week to include confirmation hearings for national security positions on the agenda of Senate committees.
Biden’s spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement on Friday that although hearings for important positions have been scheduled, “the American people deserve guarantees that quick votes will take place”.
“Progress towards confirmations is still significantly below where it was at the moment during the last two presidential transitions, and it is essential that top economic and national security leaders be confirmed and put in place on the first day. And the Senate held hearings over last year’s impeachment procedures. “
Experts said that with Biden facing immediate challenges in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences, as well as facing threats to national security after the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, getting his agency’s heads in place quickly is crucial.
“There has never been a more important time to get nominees confirmed because we are dealing with an economic crisis, a health crisis and a political crisis,” said David Marchick, director of the Public Service Partnership’s non-profit Presidential Transition Center.
Anticipating a delay in confirmation votes, Biden’s transition team is identifying officials across the government to act as interim secretaries and oversee what he hopes will be a seamless power transition, people familiar with the matter said.
David Norquist, the current deputy defense secretary, is being asked to command the Pentagon until Biden’s new team is formed, the sources said. He will remain in office until confirmation by Lloyd Austin, the retired general whose appointment requires a resignation from the House and Senate because he has not been out of the army for the required seven years.
In the next few days, Biden’s advisers say, other officials will be appointed from top agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and Department of Justice.
Biden also acted more quickly than his predecessors in recent decades in filling White House positions and positions in departments that do not require Senate confirmation – which means that many of his selections may begin their work on January 20, even if the appointed to the Cabinet to delay.
“We need to act quickly to get the right people at these agencies and to make sure that we are keeping this country safe and ready for any threats that may arise,” said Biden’s new chief of staff, Ron Klain, in a live interview with The Washington Post on Friday.
Jeff Zeleny of CNN contributed to this report.