Trump confirmations split Senate Dems

Politico

5 days ago

IN TODAY'S EDITION:— Dems debate speeding up confirmations ahead of recess— Thune wrangles senators on appropriations— Lobbying shakes up TSA facial recognition bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is staring down a confirmation backlog of more than 130 nominees — with President Donald Trump pressing hard for progress this week. Democrats could theoretically help expedite a pre-recess flurry of confirmations, but without more details from Republicans, they are so far holding out.
'There are some that are bipartisan — like, Tim Kaine and I have a great Eastern District of Virginia [U.S.] attorney nominee,' Sen. Mark Warner told Calen Monday evening. 'But [Republicans] also should go and release some of the funds that have already been appropriated that they and [Russ] Vought are holding on to. There has to be some exchange.'
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen managed to get her own deal during a committee vote last week. The Trump administration committed to distributing $75 million in 'lifesaving' global assistance in exchange for the Foreign Relations ranking member's vote to advance Mike Waltz's UN ambassador nomination.
Thune's hoping to strike a deal to fast-track dozens of confirmations through a mix of roll call votes, voice votes and/or unanimous consent requests. But Democrats could force him to file cloture on each nominee, which would in turn force Thune to keep the Senate in session into the weekend — and potentially beyond.
Democratic leaders are keeping all options on the table as they await a proposal from Republicans, one person granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations told Mia. Some senators like Brian Schatz and Tammy Baldwin aren't ruling out confirming a tranche of Trump nominees — though they say it depends who they are.
Other Democrats are opposed to any dealmaking at all: 'Just to try to help them advance getting more people in office?' Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Mia. 'Why would we do that?'
The unspoken truth: Many Democratic senators want to start their summer break just as badly as their Republican colleagues do.
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. Email us at [e-mail],[e-mail] and [e-mail]. Follow our live coverage at politico.com/congress.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHINGWith help from Alec Snyder
The House is out for August recess.
The Senate will vote to confirm Earl Matthews to be DOD general counsel and to advance the nomination of William Kimmitt to be under secretary of Commerce for International Trade at 11:30 a.m. Lawmakers will vote to confirm Kimmitt and advance the nomination of Susan Monarez to be the CDC director at 2:15 p.m.
— Senate Armed Services will hold a closed briefing on the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at 9:30 a.m.
— Senate Foreign Relations will meet on pending nominations, including for John Giordano to be ambassador to Namibia at 10:30 a.m.
— Republican and Democratic senators will have separate weekly conference lunches at 12:45 p.m.
The rest of the week: The Senate will continue marking up government funding bills and confirming the president's nominations.
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THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
Thune wrangles senators on appropriations
The wheels could be coming off Thune's plans to assemble an initial 'minibus' of fiscal 2026 spending bills.
There are stumbling blocks on both sides of the aisle to quickly packaging together three bills that would collectively fund the departments of Justice, Commerce, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as the FDA, FBI and military construction projects, and passing them before the Senate leaves until September.
Thune acknowledged to Jordain Carney that he is still 'trying to work off some holds' from senators objecting to bundling the various bills. On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul became the latest headache, citing language in the agriculture bill that he said would 'destroy' the hemp industry.
'We told them we'd give consent to get on it, but we want that horrendous language out,' Paul told Jennifer Scholtes.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told Jennifer that an unresolved issue over the location of the FBI headquarters is currently preventing the Commerce-Justice-Science bill from being included in the package.
Beyond the FBI issue, Democrats still need to iron out among themselves what amendment votes they would want, and Republicans worry that their counterparts haven't fully run the traps on other potential snags. The Justice Department bill could also be a lightning rod for potential amendments related to the Jeffrey Epstein files.
To speed up the Senate's funding debate, Thune needs consent from all 100 senators. If that doesn't happen, he said lawmakers could begin with their 'base bill' — the House-passed Military Construction-VA measure — 'and we'll hopefully get on and start having an amendment process on that.'
POLICY RUNDOWN
LOBBYING SHAKES UP TSA FACIAL RECOGNITION BILL — Industry lobbying is threatening the smooth advancement of a bill that would put guardrails on the Transportation Security Administration's use of facial recognition technology as Senate Commerce prepares to take up the bill Wednesday.
It's causing some consternation among Republicans, who had planned for a straightforward markup of the strongly bipartisan bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley and several committee Republicans.
They're now concerned that a Monday letter from several travel-related trade groups to Commerce Chair Ted Cruz and ranking member Maria Cantwell could gain traction with lawmakers. The letter warns that the bill would increase wait times and weaken aviation security.
'Now that senators are prepared to safeguard Americans' privacy, TSA is getting their industry friends to carry water,' said one senior GOP congressional aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, of new efforts by the U.S. Travel Association and Airlines for America, among other groups, to block the legislation.
The GOP aide added that TSA leadership, including Ha Nguyen McNeill, Trump's pick for acting head of the agency, should have helped put a lid on this lobbying campaign. McNeill is otherwise well-liked by TSA employees and could ultimately be the administration's formal nominee.
'I can't imagine this will bode well,' for McNeill's potential future confirmation chances, the GOP aide said.
A TSA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Merkley's bill would require TSA to provide all passengers the option to have their identity verified using a manual process rather than solely by facial recognition. The trades said it would hamper preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics and 'create an overwhelming and chaotic environment at every airport security checkpoint.'
ANOTHER BOVE WHISTLEBLOWER — A third whistleblower met with the staff for Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley on Monday to testify against Emil Bove, Trump's contentious nominee for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Hailey Fuchs reported.
Republicans are expected to confirm Bove this week despite the new allegations but haven't officially locked in a time for the final vote. They're working through a slate of other nominees while keeping an eye on their attendance given the likely tight margin.
GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are expected to vote against Bove's confirmation. A Grassley spokesperson told Hailey that the 11th-hour allegations are 'a bad faith attempt to sink a nominee who's already received committee approval.'
APPROPS PACKAGE BARS FUNDS FOR FAA PRIVATIZATION: The Senate Appropriations Committee's new funding bill for the Department of Transportation would bar the FAA from using any funds to spin off or privatize part of its operations, Sam Ogozalek and Oriana Pawlyk report.
During his first term, Trump backed a push in Congress to shift the FAA's air traffic control system to a nonprofit body, but that idea was ultimately rejected by both Senate Republicans and Democrats in 2018.
The legislation would also block funds from being used to reduce flight deck staffing on commercial passenger jets. Deregulation efforts that could pave the way for single-pilot operations have gained some momentum in the EU.
Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST
'More Difficult Than Ever': Inside the Pettiest Fight on Capitol Hill, from Riley Rogerson at NOTUS
A Democrat for the Trump era, from Elaine Godfrey at The Atlantic
CAMPAIGN STOP
DEMS' SENATE MAP IMPROVES — Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's Senate map got a lot better after top 2026 recruit Roy Cooper jumped into the Senate race in North Carolina.
The former governor's entry boosts Democrats' chances to flip the seat held by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. The retiring North Carolina senator has said he plans to be involved in helping pick a strong GOP candidate in the race, especially with Cooper's entrance.
'I don't think [Cooper's] invulnerable but he's got a good track record as governor,' Tillis said. 'It's probably a smart call. We just gotta match up and beat him. I don't want this seat to be taken by a Democrat.'
Primaries, meanwhile, are heating up on the GOP side. Sen. Lindsey Graham is getting a challenge from Paul Dans, the lead architect of Project 2025. In Georgia, Rep. Mike Collins jumped into the race on Monday to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, joining fellow GOP Rep. Buddy Carter.
JOB BOARD
Maura Williams is now scheduler for Rep. Dusty Johnson. She most recently was scheduler for Rep. Monica De La Cruz.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Rep. Diana DeGette … former Reps. Jeff Denham and Deborah Pryce … former Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Nancy Kassebaum (93) … NBC's Peter Alexander … Herbie Ziskend … Lise Clavel … POLITICO's Beth Diaz and Kelsey Brugger … CNN's Kristin Fisher … Rick VanMeter … Hilton's Katherine Lugar … Bloomberg's David Westin … AP's Aaron Kessler … Danny Vinik … Washington Lt. Gov. Denny Heck … Yusuf Nekzad of Rep. Nikki Budzinski's office … Sheila Dwyer … Laura Nichols
TRIVIA
MONDAY'S ANSWER: Jack Howard correctly answered that Franklin Delano Roosevelt claimed tree farmer as his occupation when he voted, even while serving as president.
TODAY'S QUESTION, from Mia: Who was the last Democrat to represent North Carolina and in what year did they leave the Senate?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to [e-mail].