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

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I noticed that Biden nominated a lot of women as Deputy Ministers in the cabinet.

So, if male ministers are stepping down at some point later on in the term, these women deputies would probably take over and the cabinet would become even at 13-13, or even majority-women.

Depends on the office: Julie Su would probably be the favorite to take over if Marty Walsh were to step down, & Lisa Monaco might be the favorite to take over if Merrick Garland were to ever step down, but lesser-known deputies like Dr. Jewel Bronaugh (for Vilsack), Andrea Palm (for Becerra), Polly Trottenberg (for Buttigieg), & Cindy Martin (for Cardona) might not necessarily be the favorites to take over if any of their principals were to step down.

I think Vanita Gupta would likely be a candidate for AG after Garland, and/or in a future Democratic administration. I can definitely see her as Harris’s AG.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

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.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Durbin really needs to get the lead out on scheduling a hearing for Garland, sheesh.

And Becerra!

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

So Bernie himself took the shot in the end. Glenn Greenwald in shambles:

https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1359547693551484928

So good to see “Mr. Sanders, Chairman”.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Can’t believe Neera Tanden is turning into some sort of a**hole genius Steve Jobs figure lmao.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

It's laughable Garland is still confirmed or close to. He's one of the most important cabinet members, so they need to speed up now.

Him and Becerra.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Do I dare ask how Rachel Levine's nomination is going?

Paul is really going in on trans children. Haven’t seen anything about how she took her mom out of a nursing home, though.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Respect for Murkowski for that one.

Considering that native Americans are the only reason she still has her seat, it would've been stupid of her to even think about voting no.

True. However, Alaska Natives =/= Natives in the Lower 48.

That’s true, but IIRC Alaska Natives were also pushing hard for her to support Haaland.

[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.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

White House withdraws deputy Interior secretary amid pushback from Murkowski

What about Manchin?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Biden is the first president since Bush 41 to not have an Asian Cabinet Secretary. Also, neither Tai nor Harris are "Cabinet Secretaries". "Cabinet Secretary" = head of a federal government agency/department.

Unilaterally opposing all Biden nominees is probably the wrong move but I don't disagree with Duckworth's message. Also, saying "What about Kamala? She's the VP!" is tokenism. That's like how some white people told us (Black people) that "racism is over" because "Obama is/was president".

I agree in a general sense, but I think that it’s a bit silly to say that Harris is a token or the equivalent to “racism is over” when the whole complaint is explicitly predicated on a desire for more officials of Asian descent. When someone says “Biden hasn’t picked Asian candidates for high-level executive positions”, it’s personally reasonable to point out that the highest-level position he can pick is in fact occupied by an Asian woman. I don’t see how the situation would be meaningfully different if, say, Susan Rice were VP and Julie Su (who I think would be a fine pick) were Labor Secretary.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

https://twitter.com/SenatePress/status/1374816870575001605

Paying attention to the future Cabinet nominees in the Harris administration.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1384286916032401416?s=20
Scott (R-SC) not Voting

Schumer then filed cloture on the Nomination.

Love her. Definitely a future AG under Harris.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Gupta confirmed by the same 51-49 vote.

My queen is alive.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

https://mobile.twitter.com/yashar/status/1392134562201825280
Is Biden trying to punish the Japanese or something? Sorry Japan, you'll soon have to deal with Rahm

The famously confrontational and aggressive Japanese will love their new ambassador.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Disgraceful that Garcetti was even nominated, much less confirmed

I know very little about this guy, what beef do so many have with him?

Various scandals, plus he’s literally not a diplomat. He’s failed upwards into being an ambassador to an extremely important country.