Who the Senate GOP wants to confirm on Day One

Presented by Delta: An evening recap of the action on Capitol Hill and preview of the day ahead

Jan 07, 2025 View in browser   By Jordain Carney and Ursula Perano Presented by  With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team  Senate Majority Leader John Thune is working to confirm some of Donald Trump's nominees on Inauguration Day. | Francis Chung/POLITICO. THE DAY ONE NOMINEES Senate Republicans are strategizing how to land a top party priority in the next two weeks: Getting some of incoming President Donald Trump’s nominees confirmed on Day One. News: Senate Majority Leader John Thune told us in a brief interview on Tuesday that Republicans have started feeling out who Democrats will help confirm on Jan. 20, immediately after Trump is sworn in. Remember that quick confirmation in the Senate will require support from all 100 senators. Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) called Day One confirmations a current “top priority.” “That process is beginning,” Thune said, asked about efforts to check with Senate Democrats on confirmations they can clear on Jan. 20. He added that “as you might expect, the noms for the national security space are awfully important.” Who’s potentially on the list: Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) nomination for Secretary of State seems primed for quick confirmation — he’s already amassed some Democratic support. Rubio is expected to get a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week on Jan. 15. Barrasso said Rubio is “absolutely” on the docket for nominees who could be ready for confirmation on Jan. 20. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Trump’s forthcoming nominee to be ambassador to the UN, is also viewed as a potential Day One confirmation. Stefanik is expected to get a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 16. Senate Republicans are under public pressure from the base to quickly confirm Trump’s picks, particularly national security nominees in the wake of the attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Other national security picks will likely take at least a bit more time, though Republicans are optimistic they can confirm some the same week as Trump’s inauguration. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told us that his Judiciary Committee nominees, including those for attorney general, deputy attorney general and FBI director, could still be confirmed that week, but “towards the tail end of the week, that'd be the earliest.” He later added that he’s still waiting on the required background check and ethics paperwork for Bondi, and he wasn’t sure how long it would be delayed. Meanwhile, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is still meeting with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including on Tuesday with vice chair Mark Warner. Gabbard is expected to get a hearing before inauguration day, according to a spokesperson for the committee. Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) “intends to hold these hearings before Inauguration Day. The Intelligence Committee, the nominees, and the transition are diligently working toward that goal,” the spokesman added. Getting confirmation hearings on the schedule as quickly as possible is a goal that extends across the Senate GOP conference, priming a busy news cycle on Trump’s nominees next week. “We're going to do over a dozen hearings next week,” Barrasso said, in the hopes to “get as many lined up to go on Day One as we possibly can.” — Jordain Carney and Ursula Perano, with an assist from Hailey Fuchs   A message from Delta: SALUTING A LIFE OF SERVICE. On behalf of the entire Delta family, we celebrate the life of former President Jimmy Carter. Personifying philanthropy, he dedicated his life to helping those in need and showed us all how to properly treat our fellow humans – even shaking hands with every customer every time he flew Delta. Rest in peace, President Carter. Your legacy lives on. We’ll all be better off following the example you leave behind.   GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, January 7, where we would like to personally thank Cups for staying open during the winter storm. We don’t know what we’d do without you. CAN THE LAKEN RILEY ACT PASS THE SENATE? The House easily passed the Laken Riley Act on Tuesday — the first bill the new GOP-controlled Congress has taken up. Now, the big question is whether it can pass the Senate. The bill, which would mandate detaining undocumented immigrants who are charged with theft or burglary, needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate on Friday. There are positive signs for it there: Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Gary Peters of Michigan indicated they would vote for it, and it got nearly 50 Democratic votes in the House. Plus, new Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan backed it when they were House Democrats. It’s the same bill they voted on last year. If they supported it again, only four more Democrats would have to back it in order to send it to the president’s desk (remember, Sen.-elect Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) hasn’t been sworn in yet). Here are the other Democratic senators we’re watching on this vote (the lawmakers’ offices declined to comment on the record): Mark Kelly (Ariz.) Peter Welch (Vt.) Maggie Hassan (N.H.) Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) Jacky Rosen (Nevada) Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) Jon Ossoff (Ga.) Raphael Warnock (Ga.) — Daniella Diaz, Mia McCarthy and Myah Ward   A message from Delta:   WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING TRUMP Congressional Republicans are hoping their meetings this week with Trump will help solve one of their biggest play calls right now: Whether to aim to pass their ambitious legislative priorities on tax, energy and the border in one package or two. Trump is expected to meet with Senate GOP leadership and the full conference on Wednesday, his first time gathering with them during this new Congress. Thune, asked what he wants to hear from Trump, said “it would be good to get his assessment and kind of the lay of the land and what his priorities are early on.” GOP senators, at least, are clearly hoping Trump will settle on a specific play call, as Thune favors a two-track strategy and Speaker Mike Johnson pushes for one bill. But those hopes may be misplaced — Trump said again Tuesday that he prefers one big bill, but that he’s open to two if it makes things quicker. He’s clearly illustrated that he’s less interested in the process questions, so it will be on senators to convince him that they need him to push for one strategy in order to move forward. Across the Capitol, Johnson told reporters that “we still remain convinced over here that the one-bill strategy is the best way to go” and “I think the president still prefers one big beautiful bill.” In addition to meeting with Senate Republicans on Wednesday, swaths of House Republicans are meeting with Trump over the weekend. That includes members of the House Freedom Caucus on Friday, and then committee chairs and Republicans focused on the state and local tax dedication on Saturday. – Jordain Carney, with an assist from Meredith Lee Hill and Mia McCarthy  HUDDLE HOTDISH Steve Scalise definitely likes the idea of the “Gulf of America.” QUICK LINKS  Trump’s one-bill two-step perplexes GOP senators from Ursula and Jordain Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ask Democrats to confirm him as HHS secretary, from Chelsea Cirruzzo and Daniel Payne. Republicans Aren’t Actually Sure Mass Deportations Are a Political Winner, from Casey Murray at NOTUS. New Dem additions to a plum panel are spurring private angst from Nicholas Wu and Ben Leonard   A message from Delta: SALUTING A LIFE OF SERVICE. On behalf of the entire Delta family, we celebrate the life of former President Jimmy Carter. He was a great friend, loving family man and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who reached the highest levels of public service as Georgia governor and then as U.S. president. His commitment to organizations such as The Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity International proves volunteerism knows no borders. Personifying philanthropy, he dedicated his life to helping those in need and showed us all how to properly treat our fellow humans – even shaking hands with every customer every time he flew Delta. Rest in peace, President Carter. Your legacy lives on. We’ll all be better off following the example you leave behind.   TRANSITIONS  Cesar Ybarra is joining the State Freedom Caucus Network as their vice president of government affairs. He was most recently the policy director for the House Freedom Caucus. Pablo Sierra-Carmona is now communications director for Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández (D-P.R.). He previously was communications director for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) Caitlin Buchanan Yntema is now federal public policy lead at Electrify America. She previously was a policy adviser to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). Josiah Adams is joining Rep. Emily Randall’s (D-Wash.) office as legislative aide. He previously was special assistant and personal aide to Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.). Leah Schaefer is now a policy adviser for Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah). She previously was a senior legislative assistant for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Sam Barnett is now a legislative assistant for Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.). She previously was a senior legislative assistant for Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Matt Smith is now communications director for Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.). He previously was communications director for Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.). Catherine Hayes is now executive director of the GOP Doctors Caucus. She previously was senior director of government relations at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons. WEDNESDAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate is in session. WEDNESDAY AROUND THE HILL Former President Jimmy Carter will lie in state in the rotunda from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. TRIVIA MONDAY’S ANSWER: Michael Herson correctly answered that the most senior members of the Senate and House are Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). TODAY’S QUESTION, from Nick Wu: name the past two co-chairs of the Congressional Ski and Snowboard Caucus. The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening.   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://login.politico.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to edwardlorilla1986.paxforex@blogger.com by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service