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

[Antonio the Sixth]

NAYS (Austin Waiver):
Cotton
Blumenthal
Rubio
Scott (FL)
Duckworth
Young
Marshall
Collins
Van Hollen
Warren
Markey
Hawley
Tester
Sasse
Cortez Masto
Rosen
Booker
Gillibrand
Wyden
Merkley
Toomey
Blackburn
Lee
Murray
Baldwin
Barrasso
Lummus

Absolutely fascinating list. Kinda surprised Sanders isn't one of the nays

This seems like a pure, non-partisan, non-ideological conscience vote, of the kind you'd see a lot of in the 70s and 80s but have become a rarity nowadays. Fascinating indeed.

[Antonio the Sixth]

https://mobile.twitter.com/SalehaMohsin/status/1352715699089772545

Boo.

That is ridiculous. Schumer is in control of the floor agenda already, isn't he? Why isn't he rushing this more?

[Antonio the Sixth]

https://mobile.twitter.com/SalehaMohsin/status/1352715699089772545

Boo.

That is ridiculous. Schumer is in control of the floor agenda already, isn't he? Why isn't he rushing this more?

Unanimous consent would've been required to hold the vote this quickly, so they might've gotten word that somebody (Hawley?) was gonna prevent that from occurring.

Ah, I see. Of f**king course it would be Hawley.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Who will have the most trouble getting confirmed? Tanden?

Tanden (and maybe also Raimondo) is probably going to have the most trouble.

I could see it being the case where Republicans are unilaterally opposed to Tanden and Manchin/Sinema/Tester potentially also being opposed to her. It might end up being a 50/50 split with Kamala needing to tiebreak. Kamala obviously wouldn't vote against Tanden's nomination.

I kinda want Bernie to sink her nomination as a revenge, but he's too nice and has far too much class to do that.

[Antonio the Sixth]

lmao, I make one very tame comment and all the anti-Bernie hacks immediately start foaming at the mouth

Chill out, ffs. You've already won.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So no new confirmation vote today? I know there are structural hurdles due to the lack of an OR (speaking of which, maybe get that done ASAP) but this still seems like they're slow-walking it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So no new confirmation vote today? I know there are structural hurdles due to the lack of an OR (speaking of which, maybe get that done ASAP) but this still seems like they're slow-walking it.

It's the Republicans who are slow-walking it now, & there really isn't anything Schumer can do yet other than what he's already done: file a cloture motion, which gets voted on tomorrow & allows the final vote on the nomination to take place on Monday.

As for the OR, it turns out that it's still McConnell who's slow-walking that, as he's been unable to come to an agreement with Schumer in terms of floor amendment procedures (& until that's been passed, there are some nominees - like Becerra - who can't even have their hearings held yet).

oh for f**k's sake

This is insane. He can't possibly get away with holding it hostage for weeks on end.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Re: organizing resolution: potentially as soon as today

https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2021/01/28/schumer-mcconnell-senate-agreement-463472?__twitter_impression=true

Well that clearly didn't pan out.

Any news on what's going on there?

[Antonio the Sixth]

McConnell has said he won't consent to any floor votes while the Senate is considering the budget resolution or impeachment. (Yes, Schumer can file cloture, but the 30 hour clock on that pauses if the Senate debates something else unless there is UC to keep the clock running) So it will be some time before we see anyone else confirmed.

Didn't Republicans significantly reduce that time while they were confirming judges?

[Antonio the Sixth]

McConnell has said he won't consent to any floor votes while the Senate is considering the budget resolution or impeachment. (Yes, Schumer can file cloture, but the 30 hour clock on that pauses if the Senate debates something else unless there is UC to keep the clock running) So it will be some time before we see anyone else confirmed.

Didn't Republicans significantly reduce that time while they were confirming judges?

The McConnell 2019 precedent doesn't apply to the Cabinet, Circuit Court, or Supreme Court. It's just for lower-level administration appointments and District Judges.

How convenient.

Of course, it would just take 50 votes to change that...

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, this timetable is absolutely ludicrous. I understand they've decided to focus on stimulus, and there's obviously the impeachment trial to deal with, but a President can't spend a month without a cabinet to enact his policies.

Can't Biden just use vacancy appointments to fill these positions temporarily? His predecessor sure got a lot of mileage out of that.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's certainly not the biggest deal in US politics right now, but I'll lose some respect for Sanders if he votes for her confirmation. No one who stoops to drunken bullying on social media belongs in Joe Biden's Cabinet and that alone would make the failure of her confirmation a worthy message to other Beltway types.

I agree that ideally I'd like to see Bernie torpedo her nomination, but the reality of the current situation is that this would not be a good way for Bernie to leverage the political capital that he has accumulated. Voting against Tanden would immediately put him on a collision course with the Biden administration and seriously diminish his ability to coax them into going bigger and bolder with the economic policies that are needed to help the American working class. Politics often requires you to come to terms with deeply distasteful people, and while there are clear limits on what kind of behavior one should be willing to tolerate (such as, ahem, *gestures at the past 4 years*), I don't think Tanden is where I'd draw a hard line, as much as I personally despise her.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Bernie also isn't terminally online so I doubt he's even aware Neera has Twitter drama lol. He probably just knows her as a progressive from a think tank.

This is not true. The clash (and, let's not mince words, the extent of Tanden's anti-Bernie hackery) runs deeper than mere Twitter feuds.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Neera Tanden is not Bruce Reed.

Why do people use lesser of two evils argument to defend her, just defend her by saying she knows the job and alot of the criticisms are childish in nature.

Except they aren't and there are hundreds of people across the country who "know the job". The idea is that she's some kind of irreplaceable policy genius is laughable.

She's going to go through, because Biden picked her, and there are strong norms in favor of letting the President choose their picks, especially within the President's party, but let's not pretend she's some stellar nominee who's absolutely needed for the job.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Thank you Comrade Manchin for avenging Bernie while giving him cover.

In all seriousness, we'll see what happens now. Ideally Biden will pull her and nominate someone who's similar on the issues but isn't a toxic asshole, but I realize that's not necessarily the most likely outcome. Here's hoping.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Send Rahm to Italy or Poland.

Italy doesn't want him, and if Kalwejt or Kaatak were here I'm sure they'd certify that Poland doesn't either.

Send him to Liechtenstein or something.

[Antonio the Sixth]

https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1364697997574082568

MEAN TWEETS  AREN'T  DISQUALIFYING  EXCEPT  WHEN  THEY'RE  TARGETING  ME

BUT MUH TOXIC BERNIE BROS

[Antonio the Sixth]

So uh, if the House bill won't come up for a vote until Thursday, maybe confirming Fudge and Haaland tomorrow might not be such a great move?