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Donald Trump reentered the White House on Monday with a flurry of executive orders. Congress is going to move a lot more slowly on his priorities.
The Senate is expected to confirm Marco Rubio as secretary of state within hours of Trump’s swearing-in, but the rest of the president’s Cabinet is going to be a grind. Trump’s legislative agenda is also off to a slow start, although Congress will send him an immigration crackdown to sign, possibly by week’s end.
Republicans are already feeling major urgency to do more.
“What I worry about is an attack on the country. I worry that the agenda the president outlined in his inaugural speech can only be done fully with help from Congress,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Trump spent little time dwelling on the intricacies of lawmaking in his inaugural addresses, which included scripted remarks in the Capitol Rotunda followed by a more free-wheeling speech in the sprawling Emancipation Hall. But he still clearly hinted at what he’ll need from Capitol Hill: money for border security and immigration restrictions, a Department of Homeland Security chief and a national security team in office.
Much like his predecessor Joe Biden, Trump will likely have to wait to get his top advisers on the job. Senators are discussing when to confirm John Ratcliffe, a former congressman and member of Trump’s first administration, as CIA director; Republicans had hoped to do it Monday but it may slip til later in the week.
Then the Senate will likely turn to confirming Kristi Noem to helm Homeland Security and Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the plan. Even so, it can take several days to confirm Cabinet-level nominees without agreement among all 100 senators, and Democrats are not expected to yield ground on Hegseth.
“We’ll cut through it. We’ll just have to. We’ll lock up the floor, we’ll be here a lot of late nights and weekends,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “We’re just getting started.”
Other nominations, like Scott Bessent’s atop the Treasury Department, are likely to wait until after the first crop of more national security-focused picks. For most nominees it will take time rather than procedural muscle to win confirmations; Republicans need 50 votes and have a 53-seat majority. Cooperation from Democrats would help things go more quickly.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., talked to more than a half-dozen prospective members of Trump’s Cabinet at a Capitol luncheon celebrating Trump’s inauguration. Afterward, he said that Democrats are prepared to put up more of a fight on some Trump nominees than others: “Some folks will be contentious and difficult and may or may not be confirmed. And there’s a reasonable number that will move pretty quickly.
“It’s unclear to me how this timing and process are going to work,” Coons added.
Some nominations, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services bid and Tulsi Gabbard’s to be director of national intelligence, haven’t even had a committee hearing yet.
Republican leaders will meet with Trump at the White House on Tuesday to begin sorting through the lengthy to-do list.
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Much of Trump’s legislative agenda can also become law with a simple majority vote, thanks to the filibuster protections of the so-called budget reconciliation process. At the moment, though, Republicans’ plan to use that tool is not fully formed; in addition, there are early landmines for Trump to avoid while plotting it out.
At this time four years ago, Biden had already proposed a party-line pandemic aid bill that ultimately passed in March of 2021. Four years before that, during Trump’s first term, budget resolutions setting up Obamacare repeal had already passed Congress by the time he got sworn in.
While Trump has big plans to cut taxes, fund stricter immigration policies and increase energy production, the details are causing notable tactical disagreement between the House and the Senate.
The House, and Trump, would prefer one big party-line bill rolling all their priorities together. For now, the Senate is letting the House do its own thing, but standing by in case that falls apart and quicker action is needed.
“We are still operating on a two-track plan, meaning the House is attempting to cobble together a grand coalition to pass the one big beautiful bill,” Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., told Semafor. “The Senate is operating on that track and … also a contingency approach.”
Young said he had no strong preference between the two, deeming the two-track approach “logical.” But Graham’s still pushing to do a border and national security bill now, then handle taxes later.
“We’ve got to figure out sooner or later how we’re going to move forward,” Graham said.
There’s far more to juggle in the near term. A government funding deadline awaits on March 14, and the debt ceiling needs to be raised later in the spring or summer. Both of those bills will require Democratic support to pass.
Still, the Senate is going to pass new detention restrictions for undocumented immigrants on Monday evening, with the House likely to send it to Trump’s desk shortly.
Kadia Goba contributed to this report.
Notable
- Trump is setting the stage for imposing new tariffs, but not immediately, the New York Times reports.
- Trump’s actions at the border were more immediate, according to CNN.