Senate Confirmations So Far (And Week Four Recap)
This is the status of every major Trump appointee so far.
The fourth week in Congress was very light on law-making. House members were away on a District Work Week, so the House only met “pro forma.” The Senate did not pass any laws either, though, but it debated several bills.
The Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation met to discuss the Panama Canal. Mitch McConnell was chosen to chair the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Defense, along with Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski—the three Republicans that voted ‘no’ to Pete Hegseth’s nomination.
The Laken Riley Act also officially became law last week. It is the only law Congress has passed in the first four weeks in session.
So far, nine out of twenty-two of Trump’s cabinet appointees have been confirmed, with Pete Hegseth being the only one that required a tie-breaker. Some of Trump’s more controversial picks, such as Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have not had a vote yet in committee.
Trump has appointed a shocking number of billionaires to his administration—many of whom are not as widely known but most of whom are friends of Elon Musk.
During their confirmation hearings, nearly all the candidates were asked the same basic questions about following the law. They were asked if they would be willing to break the law if Trump asked them to do something unlawful. In particular, they were asked if they would agree to stop funds that Congress has allocated to certain programs and agencies if Trump asked them to do so. In some cases, they were asked if they would divest their holdings or agree not to take jobs in their relevant industries for several years after leaving the job.
In almost every case, the candidates have gaslighted, saying they would not answer “hypotheticals.” To this, most Senate Democrats illustrated how the concerns of being asked to break the law are, in fact, not hypothetical.
For example, Elissa Slotkin asked Kristi Noem if she would refuse an order to send unidentified DHS agents into a state without co-ordinating with its Governor, as Trump did in his first term. Slotkin also asked a different nominee, Pete Hegseth, about using the military to shoot at US citizens who were protesting.
In most cases, the nominees gave false or misleading answers. Nine nominees have been confirmed so far, but recent scandals have led to a delay in other, more controversial nominees.
NOMINEES THAT HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED
(in order of confirmation)
Committee on Foreign Relations: Marco A. Rubio for Secretary of State. Confirmed unanimously (99-0), and was the only one confirmed on Inauguration Day. Most of Rubio’s hearing was uneventful, but there were three attendees that had to be escorted out during Rubio’s opening statement. Rubio made it clear that his view of the global order is now in sync with Trump. As a consequence, he was asked about many of his apparent contradictions, such as his support for NATO (which Trump has threatened to leave). The most notable shift concerns his increasingly softened support for Ukraine. His position now is that Ukraine will have to make concessions in order to end the war—which is precisely what he said was Putin’s strategy from the beginning in the days after the war started. Since his confirmation, his actions indicate he is unlikely to defy Trump.
Select Committee on Intelligence: John L. Ratcliffe for CIA. Confirmed on Jan 23 (74-25). During the last year of Trump’s first term, he served as Trump’s DNI Secretary (the office that Tulsi Gabbard now seeks). John Ashcroft spoke on behalf of Ratcliffe. He is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and was a contributor of Project 2025, but he also served as co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute. Notably, he was once asked to testify before the January 6 Committee because he told Trump that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Committee on Armed Services: Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Confirmed on Jan 24 (51-50). Hegseth didn’t meet with any of the Democrats on the committee—a point they all brought up. Pointed concerns raised by committee members include:
His qualifications: he has never been in charge of more than 100 people; his non-profit was investigated for failing to complete an audit, a job from which he was fired.
His history of misogynistic statements about women serving in the military (in particular, his exchange with Kirsten Gillibrand)
His various allegations of drunkenness and sexual assault (Crazy sidenote: Senator Thom Tillis convinced Hegseth’s sister-in-law that going on record about his mistreatment about his second wife would convince Republicans to vote against him, but then he voted yes anyway)
Whether he would use the military against American citizens
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security. Confirmed Jan 25 (59-34). Noem’s qualifications were not really questioned, but she was asked many pointed questions about how she would use the office. Andy Kim asked about the degree to which she will be abdicating her duties over border security to Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan (another architect of Project 2025). Elissa Slotkin pointed out that immigration is not the main source of terrorism and asked about whether politicizing disaster relief was bad for national security.
Committee on Finance: Scott Bessent for Secretary of the Treasury. Confirmed on Jan 27 (68-29). Bessent’s hearing emphasized tax policy and tariffs, which Bessent seems reluctant to defend (but did). Bessent was a divisive pick among Trump supporters—Elon Musk attempted to torpedo his nomination. In his opening statement, Bessent said he wants to make the Trump tax cuts permanent, but didn’t mention tariffs at all. Bessent is already facing a lawsuit in his first week in office after handing Elon Musk the keys to the Treasury.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation. Confirmed Jan 28 (77-22). The biggest concern with Duffy, which was voiced repeatedly throughout his confirmation, is about conflict of interest. Duffy was a lobbyist representing various airlines that sued the Biden administration last year for cracking down on junk fees. Duffy also defended Southwest Airlines on TV, which he was asked about during the hearing. Southwest was accused of not only prioritizing shareholder payouts at the expense of much needed infrastructure upgrades that caused the holiday travel crisis in 2022, but also faced a $140 million civil penalty from the DOT for repeatedly slow-walking complaints and refunds. He is also embroiled in scandal in his first week in office after Trump fired many high-level aviation officials prior to the DC plane crash, but is forced to parrot Trump’s DEI talking points.
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Lee M. Zeldin to be EPA Administrator. Confirmed on Jan 29 (56-42). Zeldin is one of the Republicans in Congress that voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Zeldin was also asked repeatedly about the infrastructure bill that he voted against in Congress. He has a lifetime score of 14% from the League of Conservation Voters during his time in Congress. The only Democrats to vote yes were John Fetterman (PA), Mark Kelly (AZ), and Rueben Gallego (AZ).
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior. Confirmed on Jan 30 (79-18). Burgum is a former software executive and a moderate with a history of bucking his party. As governor of North Dakota, he vetoed many socially conservative bills, such as an anti-trans school sports bill and an anti-trans pronoun bill, and slammed a mean-spirited anti-LGBT resolution. Most of the questioning in his hearing revolved around economic development on federal lands, disaster response, housing, energy production, and conservation.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Chris Wright for Secretary of Energy. Confirmed Feb 3 (59-38). Wright was introduced by a Democrat—fellow Colorado native John Hickenlooper. The questioning was very cordial, but climate change activists disrupted the hearings multiple times. Wright distanced himself from certain Trump administration objectives. In particular, some of the things he said:
Rejected the Project 2025 goal of eliminating the Grid Deployment Office
Did not prioritize one energy source over any other (notably oil), and is pro-nuclear
Affirmed he would follow the law even if the OMB directed him not to follow Congressionally-mandated appropriations
Would not suppress DOE research if asked by the president
Acknowledged that climate change is real numerous times.
PASSED COMMITTEE AND WAITING FOR SENATE FLOOR VOTE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Russell Vought for Director of Office of Management and Budget. Vought passed the Budget Committee (11-0) after Democrats boycotted the vote altogether by not showing up at all.
Committee on the Judiciary: Pamela Jo Bondi for Attorney General.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Eric Scott Turner to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry: Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture.
Committee on Foreign Relations: Elise Stefanik Ambassador to the UN.
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Douglas Collins for Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
HEARING HELD BUT NO COMMITTEE VOTE YET
Committee on Finance: RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Committee is scheduled for a vote on February 4 at 10:00AM ET.
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation: Howard Lutnick for Secretary of Commerce. Committee vote scheduled for February 5 at 10:00AM ET.
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Kelly Loeffler for Administrator of Small Business Administration. Committee vote scheduled for February 5 at 11:15AM ET.
Committee on Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard for Department of National Intelligence Director. No vote scheduled yet.
NO HEARING YET
Committee on Finance: Jamieson Greer for US Trade Representative. Hearing scheduled for February 6.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. No hearing scheduled yet.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor. No hearing scheduled yet.
NOTABLE NON-CABINET APPOINTMENTS
Committee on the Judiciary: Kash Patel for FBI Director. During his hearing, he walked back his many comments about promising retribution to political opponents. Committee vote scheduled for February 6 at 10:15AM ET.
Jared Isaacman for NASA Administrator. Billionaire friend of Elon Musk.
Mark Meador for FTC Commissioner. Lawyer that specializes in anti-trust, and once tried to break up Google.
Scott Kupor for Director of the Office of Personnel Management. Another billionaire friend of Elon Musk.
Ken Howry for Ambassador to Denmark. Co-founder of Paypal and (again) billionaire friend of Elon Musk.
William Long for IRS Director. As a Congressman, Long co-sponsored bills to repeal the income tax, abolish the IRS and replace it with a national sales tax administered by the states.
Martin Makary for FDA Commissioner. Good on hospital pricing transparency, but has defended RFK’s anti-vaccine views.
Dave Weldon for CDC Director. First CDC Director to require Senate confirmation. Has pushed vaccine conspiracy theories and supports RFK.
Janette Nesheiwat for Surgeon General. Supports gender-affirming care and praises the COVID vaccine, calling it “nothing short of miraculous”—at odds with RFK Jr.
Mehmet Oz for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz lost his Senate race to John Fetterman in part because of fears that he would destroy Medicare. On the other hand, he co-wrote an op-ed for Forbes promoting a “Medicare Advantage for All” plan that resembles Kamala Harris’ Medicare For All plan.
ALL OTHERS SO FAR
(mostly Deputy, Assistant, and Under Secretary appointments)
Keith Bass, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense.
Jayanta Bhattacharya, of California, to be Director of the National Institutes of Health.
James Bishop, of North Carolina, to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Todd Blanche, of Florida, to be Deputy Attorney General.
Samuel Brown, of Nevada, to be Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs.
Walter Clayton, of New York, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York for the term of four years.
Elbridge Colby, of the District of Columbia, to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
Monica Crowley, of New York, to be Chief of Protocol, and to have the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service.
Harmeet Dhillon, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
Daniel Driscoll, of North Carolina, to be Secretary of the Army.
Troy Edgar, of California, to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.
Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.
Stephen Feinberg, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of Defense.
David Fink, of New Hampshire, to be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.
Paul Atkins, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the remainder of the term expiring June 5, 2026.
Dario Gil, of New York, to be Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy.
Preston Griffith, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of Energy.
Jacob Helberg, of Florida, to be an Under Secretary of State (Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment).
Dudley Hoskins, of the District of Columbia, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.
Christopher Landau, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of State.
Luke Lindberg, of South Dakota, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs.
Troy Meink, of Virginia, to be Secretary of the Air Force.
Emil Michael, of Florida, to be Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Stephen Miran, of New York, to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
James O'Neill, of California, to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.
John Phelan, of Florida, to be Secretary of the Navy.
Aaron Reitz, of Texas, to be an Assistant Attorney General vice Hampton Y. Dellinger.
Michael Rigas, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.
Dean Sauer, of Missouri, to be Solicitor General of the United States.
Rodney Scott, of Oklahoma, to be Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
Abigail Slater, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
Keith Sonderling, of Florida, to be Deputy Secretary of Labor.
Stephen Vaden, of Tennessee, to be Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.
Brandon Williams, of New York, to be Under Secretary for Nuclear Security.
Michael Boren, of Idaho, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment.
Steven Bradbury, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation.
William Briggs, of Texas, to be Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
James Danly, of Tennessee, to be Deputy Secretary of Energy.
Richard Fordyce, of Missouri, to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation.
David Fotouhi, of Virginia, to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kenneth Kies, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
Michael Kratsios, of South Carolina, to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Paul Lawrence, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Katharine MacGregor, of Florida, to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
Casey Mulligan, of Illinois, to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business Administration.
William Pulte, of Florida, to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency for a term of five years.
Penny Schwinn, of Tennessee, to be Deputy Secretary of Education.