Monday, February 13, 2017

This week: Senate churns through Trump nominations; Maybe Zinke and Perry

The Senate is poised to quickly confirm at least three additional Trump nominees this week after a series of late-night talk-a-thons. Senators will first finish up work on Steve Mnuchin’s nomination to be Treasury secretary. The Senate is slated to vote as late as Monday at 7 p.m. on the longtime Goldman Sachs banker after clearing a procedural hurdle – largely along party lines – in a rare early morning vote Friday. The Senate is also slated to take up two non-controversial Trump nominees early this week, a break from the hours-long floor fights that dominated last week’s tranche of picks. On Monday, the Senate will vote on David Shulkin to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is currently the agency's undersecretary of health. On Tuesday, the Senate will also vote on Linda McMahon's nomination to lead the Small Business Administration. Trump has nearly 10 nominees currently on the Senate’s executive calendar, which could allow them to get teed up for a vote as soon as this week. Tester as well as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) had also predicted that Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), picked to lead the Interior Department, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, nominated to be Energy secretary, could come up this week...more

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