BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats are preparing to take a stand against eight of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, a move which could slow the confirmation process, a senior Democratic aide confirmed to ABC News.
With confirmation hearings scheduled to begin next week, the senators are calling for more detailed background information and financial records from Trump’s picks, including Secretary of State nominee ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, and Department of Health & Human Services nominee Tom Price, as first reported by The Washington Post.
Senate Democrats will also target the president-elect’s choices for:
- Treasury Secretary: Steven Mnuchin
- Education Secretary: Betsy DeVos
- Labor Secretary: Andrew Puzder
- Office of Management and Budget Director: Mick Mulvaney
- Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: Scott Pruitt
In addition, Democrats want at least two days of hearings on separate weeks for each nominee, with no limit to the senators’ questions.
“Any attempt by Republicans to have a series of rushed, truncated hearings before inauguration day and before the Congress and public have adequate information on all of them is something Democrats will vehemently resist,” incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “If Republicans think they can quickly jam through a whole slate of nominees without a fair hearing process, they’re sorely mistaken.”
Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), told The Washington Post in an email: “It’s curious that they’d object to treating the incoming president’s nominees with the same courtesy and seriousness with which the Senate acted on President Obama’s nominees. Our committees and chairmen are fully capable of reviewing the incoming Cabinet nominations with the same rules and procedures as the same committees did with President Obama’s nominations.”
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