Today the Senate confirmed Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy. Perry, the former Texas governor and two-time Republican presidential candidate, was confirmed with a 62-37 vote.
Category: Administration
Ben Carson Confirmed as HUD Secretary
By a vote of 58 – 41, the Senate confirmed this morning Ben Carson as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Carson, a former neurosurgeon, was a competitor to Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican Presidential primary.
New Attorney General Faces Calls to Resign, Recuse Himself from Investigations
As a result of a story that broke last evening which claims that he spoke with the Russian ambassador to the United States twice during the course of the presidential campaign and then denying during his confirmation hearing that those conversations took place, newly confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions today is facing calls to resign from his post or at least recuse himself from investigations into potential Russian involvement in the November election.
A number of Democrats have called on him to resign and have urged for the launch of an independent probe. At the same time, several Republicans have asked Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian involvement in the election.
Zinke Confirmed as Secretary of Interior Today
The Senate voted today to confirm Rep. Ryan Zinke to run the Department of the Interior.
Zinke, a Montana Republican, is a former state senator and Navy SEAL commander, as well as an avid hunter and angler who has positioned himself as a Teddy Roosevelt conservationist. He is expected to be sworn in this afternoon.
Trump to Address Congress Tonight, Senate Approves Ross, and Zinke Up
Last night, the Senate confirmed another Cabinet nominee for Trump as it voted 72-27 to confirm billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as Commerce Secretary.
Ross is a 79-year-old businessman who made his fortune by turning around companies in distressed industries like textiles and steel and is expected to play a leading role in trade policy.
The Senate now turns to Interior Secretary nominee, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT). Out of the 15 primary federal department chiefs, Zinke looks like he will soon become the 11th Cabinet member confirmed. The Zinke nomination is expected to take the maximum amount of time possible similar to nearly every other Trump nominee.
Trump Address Congress,
Meanwhile, it’s a little over a month into his new Administration and President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress for the first time tonight at 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific. While not an official State of the Union address, the new president’s first address to Congress traditionally has been a tone setting speech. Expect a speech from Trump that will offer his vision for the country, including his policy priorities, but will not likely be heavy on details.
The While House has previewed the speech and expect Trump to hit on such topics as: the coming Presidential Budget Request (PBR); recent antisemitic attacks; the White House and the media, including CNN and false reporting; Obamacare repeal and replacement; and an extreme vetting Executive Order (expected Wednesday).
See the White House preview here.
Meanwhile, the White House has said that the PBR will be previewed March 16th with something akin to a skinny budget, but the complete PBR will not be released until mid-May. The OMB, with newly approved OMB Director Mulvaney, began circulating top line numbers to agencies yesterday in preparation for a full budget preview and request. As those documents were circulating, the Trump PBR will call for $603 billion in military spending, which is a 2% boost from current levels. That sum would also represent a $54 billion, or 10%, increase over budget caps set in law. Additionally, the plans has no cuts coming from entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The increase would come from the non discretionary defense portions of the budget.
Before the FY2018 PRB is released, the Trump Administration is expected to ask Congress for a $30 billion in supplemental defense spending via the Overseas Contingency Operations account that is not subject to the spending caps. It’s a move that’s been used by Congress previously.