Posted March 3, 2017 | by Kimberly Scott | in Cabinet, DemDaily, Resource, Trump Administration, Uncategorized

DemDaily: The Confirmation Count

March 3, 2017

This week's count!

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who advocated abolishing Dept of Energy, is now its Secretary

The Cabinet
With the confirmation yesterday of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, thirteen of the fifteen Cabinet or Executive Departments heads have now been confirmed, along with five of the seven "Cabinet-level" positions.

In addition to the Cabinet (which also includes the VP and WH Chief of Staff), there are approximately 1200 positions that require Senate confirmation. Of those, 552 are considered "key" appointments (the number has decreased with the Trump Administration's restructuring).

Total Nominated To-Date: 35

In other Cabinet-related news, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has agreed to recuse himself from cases relating to the investigation of connections between Russia and the Trump Campaign/Administration.

The announcement was made yesterday following allegations that he had misled the Senate during his confirmation hearing about meetings he had during the campaign with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.

Citing perjury, Democrats have called for Sessions' resignation, but any future action will likely depend on the larger Russia-Trump investigation and the potential appointment of a Special Prosecutor.

The Confirmation Count

Confirmed by the US Senate

Position	Confirmed	Hearings Completed	Senate Confirmation Vote Date	Senate Vote Total
Secretary of Homeland Security	John Kelly	January 10	January 20	88 in favor 11 against
Secretary of Defense	James Mattis	January 12	January 20	98 in favor 1 against (*Gillibrand)
Secretary of Transportation	Elaine Chao	January 11	January 31	93 in favor 6 against
Secretary of State	Rex Tillerson	January 11	February 1	56 in favor 43 against
Secretary of Education	Betsy DeVos	January 17	February 7	50 in favor (+VP tiebreak) 50 against
Attorney General	Jeff Sessions	January 11	February 8	52 in favor 47 against
Secretary of Health & Human Services	Tom Price	January 18	February 10	52 in favor 48 against
Secretary of the Treasury	Steve Mnuchin	January 19	February 13	53 in favor 47 against
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	David Shulkin	February 1	February 13	100 in favor 0 against
Secretary of Commerce	Wilbur Ross	January 18	February 27	72 in favor 27 against
Secretary of the Interior	Ryan Zinke	January 17	March 1	68 in favor 31 against
Secretary of Energy	Rick Perry	January 19	March 2	62 in favor 37 against
Secretary of Housing & Urban Development	Ben Carson	January 12	March 2	58 in favor 41 against
CIA Director (Cabinet-Level)	Mike Pompeo	January 12	January 23	66 in favor 32 against
U.N. Ambassador (Cabinet-Level)	Nikki Haley	January 18	January 24	96 in favor 4 against
Small Business Admin (Cabinet-Level)	Linda McMahon	January 24	February 14	81 in favor 19 against
Budget Director (Cabinet-Level)	Mick Mulvaney	January 24	February 16	51 in favor 49 against
Administrator of the EPA (Cabinet-Level)	Scott Pruitt	February 2	February 17	52 in favor 46 against

The Confirmation Process

- Nominee submitted for review by the
relevant US Senate Committee.
- Senate Committee conducts public
Confirmation Hearings.
- If majority of Committee approves, the nomination is "voted out" of Committee
to a full Senate "floor" vote.
- Full Senate Vote: A simple majority (51)
required to confirm. If vote is 50-50, the
Vice President casts the tie-breaking vote.
Remaining Nominees: Awaiting Committee Hearing