The Senate voted on Tuesday night to advance Judge Merrick Garland’s nominations for Attorney General and Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) as Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. Garland and Fudge are due to be confirmed on Wednesday. North Carolina environmental regulator Michael Regan is expected to gain confirmation as an EPA administrator this week, while Rep. Deb Haaland (DN.M.) looks set for a final vote to become secretary of the interior. next week.
Thirteen members of the Biden Cabinet have been confirmed so far this year, but that number is expected to increase to 16 by the end of the week. This brings this Congress closer to the 18 Cabinet nominees confirmed under ex-President Trump during the same period and equal to 16 under ex-President Barack Obama in the equivalent period. (The total number of cabinet positions varies by administration.)
But Biden came to the White House under different circumstances. Senate Democrats did not officially win a majority until January 20, after winning Georgia’s two qualifying races. And only after the Democrats effectively won the Senate on January 6, Biden announced that he would nominate Garland as attorney general.
It also took weeks for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to reach an agreement to govern the equally divided Senate, leaving Democrats without full control of the House committees until the beginning of February. In addition, Trump’s impeachment trial in mid-February halted activities for about a week.
Considering these obstacles, Senate Democrats were confident of their progress in giving Biden a Cabinet.
The catch-up effect on confirmations is due to McConnell’s “blocking of the rules,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), But also a “ripple delay effect” because Democrats won the majority in January as opposed to November.
“It’s happening,” agreed Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.). “Obviously there was some time lost in the week of the impeachment.”
So far, Biden’s cabinet choices have all been confirmed with bipartisan support and that trend is expected to continue this week. Several Republicans voted on Monday night to move on with Garland, including McConnell, who blocked the judge’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 2016. Fudge won 19 Republican votes for his approval. Regan, meanwhile, was eliminated from the Environment and Public Works Committee with bipartisan support.
McConnell praised Republican support for Biden’s “mainstream nominees” on Monday and suggested that Republican senators cooperated more with Biden than Democrats with Trump. The Kentucky Republican supported all of Biden’s nominees except Alejandro Mayorkas for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Frankly, the president and his team must be thrilled that the Senate Republicans are proving to be more just and more upright on personal issues than the Democratic minority’s behavior just four years ago,” said McConnell.
Democrats counter that Biden had more qualified nominees than Trump, not to mention that Republican senators have dealt a blow to several Biden nominees – including Garland.
But not all of the Office’s confirmations went without a hitch. Biden’s choice to head the White House Administration and Budget Office, Neera Tanden, withdrew last week from consideration after facing opposition from Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and moderate Republicans, highlighting the fragile majority. Democrats and the ability of a single senator to torpedo a nominee.
Democrats can confirm Biden’s nominees without Republican support, but they need full caucus unity for Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the tiebreaker.
It is not uncommon for at least one cabinet nominee to fall during the term of a new president. Andy Puzder, Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, withdrew after a video of his wife alleging domestic abuse appeared and after he admitted that he was not paying taxes on the services of an undocumented immigrant. Obama saw three of his choices withdraw: Tom Daschle for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg for Secretary of Commerce.
Although Haaland sparked initial concern about the center’s Democratic membership, given its progressive origin, it appears to be heading for peaceful confirmation after Manchin, along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), announced their support.
Manchin has not yet said whether he will support Xavier Becerra as secretary of health and human services. During confirmation hearings, Becerra faced questions from Republicans about his experience in public health, his views on abortion and the lawsuits he filed as California’s attorney general. He was the first Biden nominee to be reported outside the committee along party lines.
Senate majority leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Expressed confidence that Becerra would be confirmed on Monday with the full support of the Democratic bench.
Theodoric Meyer contributed to this report.