This may sound like a stupid question, but are incoming presidents generally having confirmation hearings for their nominees prior to taking office?
I’ll admit that I haven’t paid as much attention to this in previous administrations, so this could be completely normal, and I’m just an idiot. But this whole thing struck me as premature.
I haven’t either, but: I wish it were more premature.
I mean, right now — no, literally right now — the president doesn’t have a bona fide Secretary of Defense in place, right? Like, if we were attacked today, we’ve had months in which to do stuff regarding the guy that the president may well have wanted to get an up-or-down vote on in short order — for to then soon put up a second candidate if need be, as this could be sort of urgent — but we’re, uh, waiting?
Having Cabinet positions filled by Senate-confirmed appointees benefits new administrations – and more importantly, the country – by enabling presidents to hit the ground running, especially during times of crisis. An examination of the last four incoming presidents shows that each announced most of their desired Cabinet secretaries during their transition, and the Senate generally moved quickly to confirm those nominations. On average, 95% of these secretary nominees receive confirmation hearings before the inauguration. For Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the confirmations of their secretary picks occurred almost immediately following the moment they took the oath of office on Jan. 20.
From this website
Breaking news: Marco Rubio approved as Secretary of State by a 99-0 Senate vote.
Rubio is the most “wrong within normal parameters” of Trump’s picks, so this was to be expected.
We’ll see how RFK Jr does.
I can see confirming Rubio over dealing with god-only-knows Trump’s backup nominee.
Both of these are, sadly, completely true statements. It’s not like he’s going to have to actually execute foreign policy anyway. Trump will do that and Rubio will be left to clean up the horse shit on the parade route.
“What President Trump meant by that is…”
And attend funerals and stuff for people not important enough to even merit JD.
Looks like Hegseth is likely to be confirmed. I hope he flames out while in office without actually endangering national security, as hard as that needle might be to thread.
I wonder how soon he’ll show up to work drunk. For that matter, did he drink during all the latest festivities?
Trump’s Executive Order concerning Cabinet members:President Trump Announces Acting Cabinet and Cabinet-Level Positions – The White House
| Gary Washington | Secretary of Agriculture |
|---|---|
| Jeremy Pelter | Secretary of Commerce |
| Robert Salesses | Secretary of Defense |
| Mark Averill | Secretary of the Army |
| Terence Emmert | Secretary of the Navy |
| Gary Ashworth | Secretary of the Air Force |
| Denise Carter | Secretary of Education |
| Ingrid Kolb | Secretary of Energy |
| Dorothy Fink | Secretary of Health and Human Services |
| Benjamine Huffman | Secretary of Homeland Security |
| Matthew Ammon | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development |
| Walter Cruickshank | Secretary of the Interior |
| James McHenry | Attorney General |
| Vincent Micone | Secretary of Labor |
| Lisa Kenna | Secretary of State |
| David Lebryk | Secretary of the Treasury |
| Judith Kaleta | Secretary of Transportation |
| Todd Hunter | Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
| James Payne | Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency |
| Everett Woodel | Administrator of the Small Business Administration |
| Matthew Vaeth | Director of the Office of Management and Budget |
| Stacey Dixon | Director of National Intelligence |
| Juan Millan | United States Trade Representative |
| Thomas Sylvester, Jr. | Director of the Central Intelligence Agency |
| Charles Ezell | Director of the Office of Personnel Management |
| Stephen Ehikian | Administrator of General Services |
| Michelle King | Commissioner of Social Security |
| Brian Driscoll | Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation |
| Jason Gray | Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development |
| Janet Petro | Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| Caleb Vitello | Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement |
Welcome to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
I wonder if any other president rewarded cabinet positions to unqualified sycophants, rather than lesser jobs. Cabinet positions used to be important, iirc.
According to your link, “Harding appointed a number of respected figures to his Cabinet”.
That used to be the standard. Lincoln’s strategy in appointing the most competent people for his cabinet was the aberration.
Yes, people like Hughes, Hoover and Mellon were respected. But most of the others like Daughetry (Attorney General), Fall (Interior) and Denby (Sec. of the Navy) were definitely not and were members of his Cabinet. His administration was full of cronies dubbed the “Ohio Gang” and while they didn’t all occupy Cabinet positions they occupied important positions in government such as the Veterans Bureau and the Mint.
Having said that I would acknowledge the current POTUS has managed to lower the bar more than any previous occupant of the Oval Office.
Lowered the bar? He pretty much buried the cable.
Stranger
Even Lincoln appointed Simon Cameron.
Of course, that was a quid pro quo for delivering the Pennsylvania delegation’s vote on the second ballot in Chicago, a promise made at a time when war was not thought to be on the horizon. As soon as he was decently able he sent him to St. Petersburg and installed the very capable Edwin Stanton. So let’s give Honest Abe half-credit on his SecWar appointment.
Or maybe not even that. I recall in his first administration Trump made a tweet threatening to obliterate Turkey’s economy, and Pompeo was asked what he meant by it, and Pompeo said 'You’ll have to ask the president about that."
That was the point I realized that there was no foreign policy, it was just whatever popped into the head of the PotUS at the time and even our secretary of state didn’t know what was going on.
Lincoln had what Doris Kearns Goodwin called a team of rivals.