Senate Looks to Confirm Three More Cabinet Nominations This Week

Following deeply contested votes for Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education), Jeff Sessions (Attorney General) and Tom Price (Health and Human Services), the Senate plans to confirm three more of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations this week.

Continuing the past week’s more controversial nominees, Steve Mnuchin for Secretary of Treasury is up first. The former Goldman Sachs Chief Information Officer will likely see another vote split along party lines, as Democrats have tagged him with the unflattering moniker “The Foreclosure King.” However, Senate Dems need 51 votes to sink a possible nomination and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) has tentatively signaled he’s supporting Mnuchin in the Monday vote.

Easing off the gas a bit, the Senate is also holding votes for David Shulkin (Department of Veterans Affairs) and Linda McMahon (Small Business Administration). Shulkin is already the undersecretary of the DVA and cleared the Veterans Affairs Committee with a unanimous vote. A possible confirmation on Monday would make him the lone Obama-administration official serving in the Trump cabinet.

Finally, Linda McMahon (of WWE fame) is up for vote on Tuesday to head the Small Business Administration. There’s been no real pushback against the wrestling magnate, as she passed committee 18-1, but the WWE’s well-documented history of piledriving small competitors could come up on the floor.

If the Senate doesn’t grind to a halt over the aforementioned nominees, Ryan Zinke (Department of the Interior) and Rick Perry (Department of Energy) might also come up for vote. But given the past week, that’s an ambitious calendar to keep.