Two more Cabinet nominees advance to vote by full Senate
The nominations of two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks -- Scott Pruitt for the Environmental Protection Agency and Mick Mulvaney for the Office of Management and Budget -- will advance to a vote by the full Senate after committee votes held Thursday.
A day after delaying its vote because of Senate Democrats’ boycott, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted -- still with no Democrats present -- to send Pruitt’s nomination to the full Senate.
Pruitt’s nomination advanced with 11 votes (all Republicans) to zero, since no Democrats attended the vote. GOP members of the committee changed the rules to allow for a vote without Democrats present, as other committees have done recently to advance nominees like treasury pick Steven Mnuchin and health and human services pick Tom Price.
And Mulvaney’s nomination will also go to the full Senate, though the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee voted 8-7, along party lines, to send the nomination without a recommendation.
A Senate committee can choose to send a Cabinet nominee to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation, an unfavorable recommendation or no recommendation.
Thus far, the Senate has confirmed six of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet nominees: Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
