Biden Cabinet Confirmation Live Thread ***hearings, votes, etc.***

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Why the  did Mitch vote to confirm Garland for AG when he made it his whole thing that he was never ever gonna confirm him

Mitch's problem with Garland the last time he was nominated for something was with the idea of Obama getting to fill that position in particular, not anything special to do with Garland himself.

[Tender Branson]

Why didn’t Lander even have a hearing yet ?

[Chickpeas]

Is there going to be an official photo released of President Biden with his entire cabinet once they are all confirmed?

[riceowl]

Another question, why does Granholm already have an official portrait and why is it so good? When will POTUS and VPOTUS get theirs?

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Another question, why does Granholm already have an official portrait and why is it so good? When will POTUS and VPOTUS get theirs?

Yeah, Granholm took her official portrait on Day 1, I was surprised. Meanwhile, Janet Yellen doesn't have an official portrait yet and she's been in office for a while now.

Austin, Blinken, Haines, Thomas-Greenfield, Granholm, McDonough, Mayorkas, Raimondo all have official portraits. Yellen, Vilsack, Cardona, Buttigieg don't have official portraits.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

https://twitter.com/sgurman/status/1370015694138585090
https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept/status/1370023440904716291
Garland will be ceremonially sworn-in by VP Harris later today at around 5:15 PM EST.

[Sir Mohamed]

Will Garland's replacement be Biden's 1st federal judge nominee? I don't recall him making any nominations so far.

[brucejoel99]

Will Garland's replacement be Biden's 1st federal judge nominee? I don't recall him making any nominations so far.

Possibly, but he also might just simultaneously submit his nominee to fill the Garland vacancy alongside a bunch of other nominees to fill a bunch of other judicial vacancies (many of which have arisen since Jan. 20th thanks to liberal judges who waited for a Democratic President to be sworn-in before they retired), in which case there technically wouldn't be a "1st federal judge nominee" among them as they'd all collectively share the distinction.

[Meatball Ron]

Manchin and Collins both announced their support for Becerra this morning, all but assuring his confirmation.

Any idea what's going on with Walsh? Surprised he's the only one (besides Lander and OMB) without a full Senate vote scheduled. He got ~2/3rds of the GOP votes in committee so it's not like his confirmation will be particularly narrow.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Manchin and Collins both announced their support for Becerra this morning, all but assuring his confirmation.

Any idea what's going on with Walsh? Surprised he's the only one (besides Lander and OMB) without a full Senate vote scheduled. He got ~2/3rds of the GOP votes in committee so it's not like his confirmation will be particularly narrow.

Walsh has some well-known personal demons (he's in recovery and, in fact, people in recovery are his political base in Boston) that shouldn't ultimately derail his confirmation but that I guess could conceivably be causing scheduling issues.

[Meatball Ron]

Manchin and Collins both announced their support for Becerra this morning, all but assuring his confirmation.

Any idea what's going on with Walsh? Surprised he's the only one (besides Lander and OMB) without a full Senate vote scheduled. He got ~2/3rds of the GOP votes in committee so it's not like his confirmation will be particularly narrow.

Walsh has some well-known personal demons (he's in recovery and, in fact, people in recovery are his political base in Boston) that shouldn't ultimately derail his confirmation but that I guess could conceivably be causing scheduling issues.

Yeah, I don't see why that would impact confirmation timing considering it didn't get in the way of him being both selected and sailing through committee

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Manchin and Collins both announced their support for Becerra this morning, all but assuring his confirmation.

Any idea what's going on with Walsh? Surprised he's the only one (besides Lander and OMB) without a full Senate vote scheduled. He got ~2/3rds of the GOP votes in committee so it's not like his confirmation will be particularly narrow.

Walsh has some well-known personal demons (he's in recovery and, in fact, people in recovery are his political base in Boston) that shouldn't ultimately derail his confirmation but that I guess could conceivably be causing scheduling issues.

Yeah, I don't see why that would impact confirmation timing considering it didn't get in the way of him being both selected and sailing through committee

I'm just speculating. I really don't know either.

[AndyHogan14]

Becerra is discharged with just a bare majority (51-48), only Collins defected from the Republican side with all other Republicans voting no (Burr did not vote). There were no Democratic defections.

Republican Ayes (1):
Collins (ME)

Democratic Noes (0):
None

Not Voting (1):
Burr (NC)

[AndyHogan14]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1370068923907981314?s=20
https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1370069177705373701?s=20

[AndyHogan14]

It seems like Becerra is likely going to be the least bipartisan of the Biden nominees with only one Republican vote. Although, that could change if anyone decides to change their vote when we get to cloture and/or the final vote. Haaland, which I would have guessed would have been the most contentious at the beginning of this process, received four Republican votes today. As a result, cloture was invoked on the Haaland nomination 54-42 with a final confirmation vote coming either tomorrow or early next week.

Republican Ayes (4):
Murkowski (AK)
Sullivan (AK)
Collins (ME)
Graham (SC)

Democratic Noes (0):
None

Not Voting (4):
Moran (KS)
Cassidy (LA)
Kennedy (LA)
Burr (NC)

[BudgieForce]

It seems like Becerra is likely going to be the least bipartisan of the Biden nominees with only one Republican vote. Although, that could change if anyone decides to change their vote when we get to cloture and/or the final vote. Haaland, which I would have guessed would have been the most contentious at the beginning of this process, received four Republican votes today. As a result, cloture was invoked on the Haaland nomination 54-42 with a final confirmation vote coming either tomorrow or early next week.

Republican Ayes (4):
Murkowski (AK)
Sullivan (AK)
Collins (ME)
Graham (SC)

Democratic Noes (0):
None

Not Voting (4):
Moran (KS)
Cassidy (LA)
Kennedy (LA)
Burr (NC)

I wonder if Don Young's testimony won Sullivan over.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

So, has there been any word on Doug Jones lately?

[brucejoel99]

So, has there been any word on Doug Jones lately?

Joining CNN as a political commentator.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

So, has there been any word on Doug Jones lately?

Joining CNN as a political commentator.

ugh.

[AndyHogan14]

March 15
5:30pm • Haaland (Senate Vote)
Possible cloture motion filed for Becerra.

March 16
10:00am • Su (Hearing; HELP)
Possible votes to invoke cloture on Becerra, Guzman, and/or Tai.

March 17
9:30am • Murthy (Committee Vote; HELP)
Likely the earliest possible date to confirm Becerra, Guzman, and/or Tai.

***

CABINET-LEVEL OFFICIALS:
Confirmed
Blinken, Yellen, Austin, Garland, Vilsack, Raimondo, Fudge, Buttigieg, Granholm, Cardona, McDonough, Mayorkas, Haines, Thomas-Greenfield, Rouse, Regan

Awaiting Full Senate Vote
Haaland (3/15), Becerra (TBA), Walsh (TBA), Guzman (TBA), Tai (TBA)

Awaiting Committee Vote
None

Awaiting Committee Hearing
None

Committee Hearings Not Yet Scheduled
Lander, New OMB Nominee

***

Today, there were no new cabinet confirmations, but today, Becerra was discharged from the Finance Committee (51-48) and cloture was invoked for Haaland (54-42) moving those two closer to final confirmation.

Once again, the Senate is taking a three-day weekend, so the final confirmation vote for Haaland will be on Monday. Also, cloture was filed today for Tai and Guzman, but no vote to invoke cloture was scheduled, so it seems likely that those roll call votes will take place on Tuesday with possible confirmation votes coming on Wednesday. Cloture has not been filed for Becerra, but I assume that Schumer will do just that at the earliest convenience to try and get him confirmed by the end of next week.

[Jay 🏳️‍⚧️]

Why the  did Mitch vote to confirm Garland for AG when he made it his whole thing that he was never ever gonna confirm him

Mitch's problem with Garland was that Obama nominated him, and if confirmed the court would be 5-4 liberal. Mitch actually respects and likes the man, he just stonewalled his nomination when it got in the way of his goals

[Progressive Pessimist]

Why the  did Mitch vote to confirm Garland for AG when he made it his whole thing that he was never ever gonna confirm him

Mitch's problem with Garland was that Obama nominated him, and if confirmed the court would be 5-4 liberal. Mitch actually respects and likes the man, he just stonewalled his nomination when it got in the way of his goals

That is actually worse than having an unrelenting bias against him.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Why the  did Mitch vote to confirm Garland for AG when he made it his whole thing that he was never ever gonna confirm him

Mitch's problem with Garland was that Obama nominated him, and if confirmed the court would be 5-4 liberal. Mitch actually respects and likes the man, he just stonewalled his nomination when it got in the way of his goals

That is actually worse than having an unrelenting bias against him.

Can’t imagine how Garland must feel having to listen to him.

[politicallefty]

A sentence that comes 5 years too late: "The United States Senate has confirmed Judge Merrick Garland."

I don't know that I ever saw it said anywhere, but it's been my strong suspicion that Biden decided on Garland for AG when the Georgia Senate races were won. A McConnell-run Senate would have never confirmed a replacement for him on the DC Circuit Court. With another seat becoming vacant due to senior status, Biden will soon have 2 seats available to fill on that court. It's expected that Ketanji Brown Jackson is going to be elevated to that court, quite possibly on a path to the Supreme Court (which would probably mean a Breyer retirement in 2022).

[brucejoel99]

A sentence that comes 5 years too late: "The United States Senate has confirmed Judge Merrick Garland."

I don't know that I ever saw it said anywhere, but it's been my strong suspicion that Biden decided on Garland for AG when the Georgia Senate races were won. A McConnell-run Senate would have never confirmed a replacement for him on the DC Circuit Court. With another seat becoming vacant due to senior status, Biden will soon have 2 seats available to fill on that court. It's expected that Ketanji Brown Jackson is going to be elevated to that court, quite possibly on a path to the Supreme Court (which would probably mean a Breyer retirement in 2022).

Oh, I imagined he went with Garland because he'd very much be seen as protecting the DOJ's reputation as an independent body, in contrast to Yates, who - just like Lynch once upon a time - would've been a lightning rod for Republican campaigns going forward & thus an unnecessary headache, while Jones - as a known partisan & close personal friend of the Biden family - would've inevitably been mucked up by the GOP, especially on the Hunter Biden sh*t. Basically, appointing Garland allowed Biden to try & restore faith in an independent DOJ while avoiding the optics of appointing one of his friends to run the investigation of his son as AG, with the added bonus of getting to appoint a young liberal (i.e., Jackson) to the D.C. Circuit (i.e., to get her ready for the Supremes).

As for why he waited 'til the morning after the GA runoffs before announcing his AG, I just figured he didn't wanna take attention away from the Ossoff/Warnock campaigns, especially since he himself was already playing a not-insignificant role in it to begin with. After all, I have to imagine Garland was at least given the courtesy of more than a few hours' notice before the news went public.