Senate GOP plows through Trump nominations as House GOP huddles at Trump club

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 27, 2025

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The Senate keeps processing President Donald Trump’s nominees this week, but much of the congressional attention will be on South Florida, where House Republicans are gathering for their annual issues and strategy conference.

The conference is taking place at Trump National Doral in Miami, the president’s own private golf club, and Trump is expected to address the assembled lawmakers Monday evening.

Punchbowl News reported over the weekend that Vice President JD Vance is expected to join the retreat as a headliner on Tuesday.

Much of the discussion will focus on trying to plot the way forward for a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation package — especially to try to implement Trump’s immigration and tax policy agenda.

Meanwhile, senators have the Capitol to themselves until next week, with the House holding only pro forma sessions.

The Senate’s weekly floor agenda is already filling up, with a vote scheduled Monday evening to confirm Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary, followed by a vote to limit debate on Trump’s choice of former Rep. Sean P. Duffy, R-Wis., to lead the Department of Transportation.

Duffy, who has been working for Fox News, sailed through the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation panel on a 28-0 vote. His confirmation vote is expected on Tuesday.

Bessent’s nomination, while not having the same level of bipartisan backing, is in no trouble — 67 senators voted to invoke cloture on the nomination on Saturday.

“So my expectation is, these are very capable people, very qualified for these jobs, and I’m hoping that the Democrats recognize that and give us the support that we need, and then enable us to get going on the next set of nominees,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Saturday on Fox News.

Legislatively, the Senate will look to take up a House-passed bill designed to sanction the International Criminal Court, largely in response to the court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the committee level, there are more nomination hearings on the docket, including for some of the president’s most contentious selections.

The Senate Finance Committee meets Wednesday morning and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee meets Thursday morning with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, Trump’s nominee to be the director of national intelligence, faces members of the Intelligence Committee on Thursday. They are sure to have plenty of questions about her foreign policy views.

“I do hope though that we won’t see anyone question her patriotism,” Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Vance said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he expects Gabbard will be confirmed.

“She recognizes the bureaucrats have gotten out of control, and we need somebody there who’s going to rein them in and return those services to their core mission of identifying information that’s going to keep us safe,” Vance said of Gabbard.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was not yet committed to voting to confirm Gabbard, citing questions he wants to hear her answer at the Intelligence Committee.

“I tend to vote for almost everybody in both parties, but I want to see how the hearing goes. Why did you go to Syria? What did you do regarding Assad? Why do you think Edward Snowden should be held as a hero? I certainly don’t,” Graham said. “We’ll see how the hearing goes.”

Graham mentioned that former Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., would be introducing Gabbard before the committee.

The other Thursday headliner is the Judiciary Committee’s hearing with Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director.

Several other nominees will be teed up for floor consideration, and there are other confirmation hearings on the Senate schedule for the week as well.

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., Trump’s choice to lead the Small Business Administration, will appear before the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. And Howard Lutnick, the nominee for Commerce secretary, testifies before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Hunter Savery contributed to this report.