Trump Cabinet confirmation hearings **live commentary thread**

[Shadows]

Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Interior Department, GOP Congressman Ryan Zinke, faced an intense line of questioning on Tuesday when Sen. Bernie Sanders took him to task for some of his more troubling climate change beliefs.

“I’m not a climate scientist expert, but I can tell you I will become a lot more familiar with it … I don’t know definitively – there’s a lot of debate on both sides of the aisle” when it comes to how people are affecting the climate.

At that point, Sanders stopped Zinke in his tracks to correct him.

“Actually, there’s not a whole lot of debate now,” Sanders said. “The scientific community is virtually unanimous that climate change is real and causing devastating problems. There is a debate on this committee, but not within the scientific community.”

[Shadows]

Sanders to Betsy - Is is true that your family has given around 200M $ to Trump & the Republican party over the years

Betsy - Yes it is possible that is the number

Sanders - Do you think you will be sitting here as the nominee if you hadn't paid paid 100's of Millions of $ in campaign contributions?

Betsy - It is possible, I did this...Blah blah...for Children...Blah Blah

[(Still) muted by Kalwejt until March 31]

News on Puzder: Obviously, his hearing has been delayed until February. Rumors spread that even Puzder himself is considering to drop out of the whole thing (CNN, DailyCaller). Hopefully that is true or he simply doesn’t get confirmed. This dude is a horrible pick.

-Oh, he's one of the worst. Way too Jeb-style.

[Shadows]

Warren is absolutely running in 2020 I feel. She was savage against Betsy, absolutely destroyed her point by point. She is just damn good. She would be a much bigger leader if only she had more guts & less of a calculating mind.

Sanders was more like - How can you make College affordable? Do you support Tuition Free College? What about Childcare being expensive for a single mom making 30K, what are your ideas? Blah Blah

Warren is like Do you wanna stop Waste Fraud n Abuse? Then how do we get crooks to stop cheating people by making organizations like Trump University & then getting away with a fine?

[heatcharger]

Yeah, Warren is pretty clinical at shredding unqualified hacks like DeVos, which is why I think she should remain in the Senate.

[SteveRogers]

Yeah, Warren is pretty clinical at shredding unqualified hacks like DeVos, which is why I think she should remain in the Senate.

Yes, but as long as the political environment is such that senate republicans will auto-confirm said unqualified hacks regardless of how badly they get shredded in their hearings, the Senate may not be the place where Warren's skills are most effectively put to use.

[MasterJedi]

I have now found out we need to have guns in schools due to grizzly bear attacks? What?

[Dr. Arch]

I have now found out we need to have guns in schools due to grizzly bear attacks? What?

Guns for babies because of mountain lions, coming soon. ™

[Shadows]

Warren is actually a strong VP pick as well as a strong leader in the Senate with a progressive President regardless of who is the POTUS. Any1 can be the leader but you can't touch Ted Kennedy.

Just makes me sad to consider how great a Bernie-Liz team would be on the ticket in 2016. Hillary probably should have chosen her. Imagine Warren vs Pence instead of this low energy uncharismatic (but nice man) Tim Kaine. Warren would have shredded Pence.

[Mr. Morden]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/jeff-sessions-cabinet-233727

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[Dr. Arch]

I believe DeVos, Carson, and Tillerson should be shot down; DeVos was especially bad.

[Illiniwek]

The Queen of the Dutch Mafia should be voted down, and in a sane world would be. But her family money is tied up with too many Republicans for her to actually voted down on qualifications. Unless some scandal material is uncovered soon she will be confirmed.

[Blair]

Yeah the problem is that unless there's a scandal (like Price with this stock fixing) or concern from R's (like with Tillerson) then they're just going to sail through after a couple of scathing attacks from the Democrats

[Shadows]

That EPA guy doesn't even believe in Climate Change & has attacked the EPA throughout his life. And then Price is horrible too on healthcare. Really bad picks. A Dem Senate would have kept some of these nominees in check & Trump had to nominate some moderates.

[Xing]

Coming from someone in the educational field, DeVos is one of the worst. I really REALLY hope this opponent of public education gets voted down, but I doubt she will.

[The Other Castro]

Ralston thinks Sen. Heller will vote NO on Mnuchin.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

Democrats are only planning on allowing confirmation votes on Mattis and Kelly tomorrow.

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http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/19/politics/mick-mulvaney-taxes-confirmation/index.html

[Mr. Morden]

So I forget how it works: Do all of Obama's Cabinet officials resign tomorrow, and the unfilled Cabinet spots are temporarily presided over by their deputies?  E.g., this guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Filip

was the Deputy Attorney General under Mukasey, then Mukasey quit on Jan. 20th, 2009 when Obama was sworn in, and Filip stayed on as acting Attorney General for two weeks before Holder was confirmed.  I assume that's how it's going to work for all of these departments?

[Mr. Morden]

So I forget how it works: Do all of Obama's Cabinet officials resign tomorrow, and the unfilled Cabinet spots are temporarily presided over by their deputies?  E.g., this guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Filip

was the Deputy Attorney General under Mukasey, then Mukasey quit on Jan. 20th, 2009 when Obama was sworn in, and Filip stayed on as acting Attorney General for two weeks before Holder was confirmed.  I assume that's how it's going to work for all of these departments?

I found the answer to my own question here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/day-inauguration-state-department-lacks-interim-boss-44878550

[heatcharger]

Ralston thinks Sen. Heller will vote NO on Mnuchin.

His line of questioning on Nevada foreclosures signals to me he will be hard to defeat in 2018.

[KingSweden]

Ralston thinks Sen. Heller will vote NO on Mnuchin.

Whoa if true

[Shadows]

McCain supports Glass Steagal etc so maybe he could be worked on for Mnuchin. But I think Mnuchin goes through, they pay too much money for people like Booker to Gillibrand!

Apparently Mnuchin failed to disclose 100M$ assets & massive money stashed in Cayman islands & tax havens!

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Mattis confirmed as Secretary of Defense in a unanimous vote:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/20/mad-dog-mattis-confirmed-as-defense-secretary-first-trump-cabinet-member-to-be-approved.html

[Mr. Morden]

Look at the Wikipedia page for "Current Cabinet of the United States":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_the_United_States#Cabinet

The vast majority of the Cabinet right now is composed of deputy officials who don't even have a Wikipedia page. 

[Mr. Morden]

Mattis confirmed as Secretary of Defense in a unanimous vote:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/20/mad-dog-mattis-confirmed-as-defense-secretary-first-trump-cabinet-member-to-be-approved.html

At the time that article was written, the vote was unanimous, but voting was still in progress.  Looks like it ended up not quite being unanimous:

https://twitter.com/CQnow/status/822569447722455040

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