Trump Cabinet confirmation hearings **live commentary thread**

[justfollowingtheelections]

I wouldn't vote for Tillerson if I was in the Senate, but he's one of the least offensive Trump picks.  I'm more concerned with Sessions, Puzder, Price, Carson, Perry, DeVos and Pruitt.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Rubio is hinting he'll vote no on Tillerson on CNN

I guess he's already started his 2020 campaign.

[justfollowingtheelections]

If you want to hook Carson up with a job, make him Surgeon General. He'd be good at it!

While Carson is undoubtably a brilliant surgeon in his own right, his own abilities as a physician wouldn't translate into being an effective public health administrator; it's downright dangerous to have someone in the SG office who treats addiction as a moral fault and (presumably) doesn't support safe-sex programs, with the former being especially relevant in the face of the opioid epidemic.

Trump had no clue what HUD does.  We're talking about a guy who thought the EPA was called The Department of Environmental.  He probably just saw Urban and he thought it deals with "Urban" issues, so why not just put an "Urban" guy there.

[justfollowingtheelections]

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/819608462053228546

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wow just wow

As for Tillerson, he's probably a lot better than the alternatives.  Do people really want Corker to become SoS?  ugh

[justfollowingtheelections]

Is he keeping Vilsack?

[justfollowingtheelections]

I think by his choices (like HUD, Education, Energy) he intends to get rid of several.

But he can't unilaterally abolish a department.

Does anyone know what the process is?  Also what happens to the people who work for that department?  Are they moved to a different one or are they fired?

[justfollowingtheelections]

I think by his choices (like HUD, Education, Energy) he intends to get rid of several.

But he can't unilaterally abolish a department.

Does anyone know what the process is?  Also what happens to the people who work for that department?  Are they moved to a different one or are they fired?

A law is passed by Congress. And that law would also determine the process. Most likely most of them would be fired.

Well in that case the Democrats should filibuster any such attempts by Republicans.  Most federal agencies have thousands, in some cases tens of thousands of employees if you include regional offices and state government offices that are funded by the federal agency.
I understand that some federal agencies may be obsolete, but having worked at a government agency which does very important work while Republicans often talk of getting rid of it, I am very skeptical of any such efforts. 

[justfollowingtheelections]

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.

I hope so.

[justfollowingtheelections]

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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Mattis is the best Trump nom by a mile. Still don't get why she made this her hill to die on

Sounds like Gillibrand believes he wasn't good enough to be worth throwing out the law on and scrapping civilian oversight of the military.

I despise Gillibrand and I wish someone would primary her, but I would have also voted against Mattis for this exact reason.

[justfollowingtheelections]

I disagree with Rand Paul on 99% of issues but at least he commits to his beliefs, and I can be certain that his ideas are HIS ideas.

Well they're his father's ideas, not his, but he does have his heart in the right place, and isn't corrupt like a lot of other politicians.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Schumer is a NO on DeVos, Mulvaney, Tillerson, Sessions, Price, Mnuchin, Pruitt, and Puzder.

Agree with him except for Tillerson. Not the best choice (Huntsman or Corker would be better from the GOP side), but far superior to guys like Bolton. I'd vote aye on Rex.

I do agree that Huntsman would be better than Tillerson, but I'd take him over Corker.

[justfollowingtheelections]

I bet a few Democrats will vote for her.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Until I have good reason to believe otherwise, I'm going to guess that any Republicans (other than Collins and Murkowski) who claim to be "on the fence" about DePlagiarist are, in the end, going to be good little minions and vote for her. They're probably just saying that they're undecided to make it look like they care about such trivial things as knowledge, experience, and qualifications.

Corbyn said DeVos will have the votes

Collins is full of sh**t too...she could of stopped DeVos but voted YES in the committee then voted NO in the Senate

What a joke

Her office probably got a lot of calls from concerned voters.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Sessions just advanced in the senate, 53-45.  Dems were unified against him, with the exception of Manchin the DINO.

Wait does that mean that Sessions was confirmed?  If so, can he vote for DeVos?

[justfollowingtheelections]

Price and Mnuchin advance 51-48

Sad.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Republican Congressman from WI-2:

Rep. Mark Pocan ‏@repmarkpocan  2h2 hours ago
Hearing rumors in DC that Scott Walker wants Labor Secretary if Andy Puzder's nomination falls through.

Rep. Mark Pocan ‏@repmarkpocan  2h2 hours ago
Started after Walker discussed labor issues w/ @VP Pence, Trump-style twitter war with Sen. Baldwin & speculation of bad WI budget this week

So we go from a guy that is against the minimum wage to a guy who has declared unions public enemy no. 1?  Who's next on Trump's list?  krazen?

[justfollowingtheelections]

This is shameful.  How can anyone vote for someone as corrupt as Price?  He should be in jail, not running the Health department.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Until I have good reason to believe otherwise, I'm going to guess that any Republicans (other than Collins and Murkowski) who claim to be "on the fence" about DePlagiarist are, in the end, going to be good little minions and vote for her. They're probably just saying that they're undecided to make it look like they care about such trivial things as knowledge, experience, and qualifications.

Corbyn said DeVos will have the votes

Collins is full of sh**t too...she could of stopped DeVos but voted YES in the committee then voted NO in the Senate

What a joke

Her office probably got a lot of calls from concerned voters.

bullshyte. this is 100% about her being left off the hook by McConnell counting votes. he needed her for Committee, but now with Pence he's given her the green light to "vote her conscience" (i.e. pander to voters to show what an "independent" she is).

Collins has probably never cost the GOP leadership a single battle from her vote, and probably never will.

What exactly did you disagree with?  Where did I say that Collins is not a hypocrite?