These senators — including Democrats — are making life difficult for Biden nominees

13 June 2023

Next to helping President Joe Biden get reelected, the Democratic Nation Committee's (DNC) top goal for 2024 is keeping their party's effective majority in the U.S. Senate. Democratic strategists and organizers realize that if Biden is reelected but Republicans retake the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) would — assuming he became Senate majority leader again — do everything he could to block Biden's nominees.

That could everything from a possible U.S. Supreme Court nominee if there are any vacancies to lower federal court nominees to potential members of Biden's administration.

Democrats slightly increased their effective Senate majority in the 2022 midterms. But in an article published on June 12, Politico reporters Burgess Everett, Jennifer Haberkorn and Daniella Diaz describe the difficulties that Biden nominees have been facing in the Senate Commerce Committee.

"Relatively obscure nominations are turning into Senate knife fights as 2024 approaches," the reporters explain. "And the Commerce Committee is the center of the action. So far this year, three Biden picks for executive-branch positions withdrew because they lacked enough support in the Committee, which has four Democratic members up for reelection in swing states next fall. And when Republicans stick together — under the surprising leadership of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — that can cause problems."

One of the Biden nominees who withdrew was Ann Carlson, who Biden had in mind to head the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration.

According to Everett, Haberkorn and Diaz, "The Carlson episode is instructive for a White House and Democratic Senate that's faced several tough nomination crunches. At the moment, labor secretary hopeful Julie Su is in the highest-profile fight, as a handful of Democratic senators remain undecided and there's no floor vote in sight."

The Politico reporters add that "it's not hard to see why the Commerce Committee is so tough" for Biden nominees.

"The combative Cruz is the top Republican on the panel," Everett, Haberkorn and Diaz note. "And the Committee's Democratic members include incumbent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)."

Politico's full report is available at this link.

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