Tracking the Trump Cabinet Votes
I will try to do this in the most painless way possible.
Updated 2/4/25
To be honest, I didn’t want to write about the cabinet nominations. There is so much media noise surrounding them that I feared it would turn people off. At least, it’s turning me off (lol). But I think it’s important to know how your Senators are voting.
Below is a list of nominations, where they are in the process, and who voted for them (Dems, we are looking at you, WTF are you doing voting yes…)
Confirmed by Senate
Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State
All 99 fellow Senators voted for him. Rubio is likely the least controversial of Trump’s nominees—that said, this guy has suffered a lot of humiliation under Trump. I give it a few months before Trump throws Rubio under the bus. He’s too conventional for Trump, and I think may have difficulty fitting in this second term.
John Ratcliffe for CIA Director
This one is also not as controversial but is still really bad. The guy is known as a total Trump loyalist, which put in charge of the nation’s largest spy agency is very concerning. Chuck Schumer, the top Dem in the Senate, opposed Ratcliffe for this very reason—he fears he’s unable to stand up to Trump. A whopping 20 Democrats did vote to confirm Ratcliffe.
Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense
I’m not going to discuss this too much. No Democrats voted for him, and he lost three GOP Senators (Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME), and Mitch McConnell (KY)). However, I give no credit to Collins on this one; after all, she was a decisive vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. There is plenty out there about how dangerous Hegseth is. I highly recommend Jane Mayer’s investigative piece on him.
Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS)
I find it interesting that killing her dog took down Noem’s chance of becoming Vice President—only because I don’t think that same standard would be held to a dog killer who is a man (haha!). Just kidding, it’s terrible. She’s a terrible person who has shown nothing but extreme reverence and loyalty towards Trump. DHS oversees much of the country’s immigration enforcement. I wrote about this in my last post, but I don’t think Democrats should give anything to Trump on immigration. Trump’s a bad-faith actor. Any yes vote plays directly into MAGA’s racist, xenophobic scapegoating of immigrants. It’s dangerous, inhumane, and needs a strong, united opposition. So, if you live in a state with a Democratic senator who voted for Noem, call them. Tell them you’re angry with that decision and will monitor Noem’s actions to hold them accountable. Dems who voted to confirm Noem: John Fetterman (PA), Maggie Hassan (NH), Tim Kaine (VA), Andy Kim (NJ), Gary Peters (MI), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Elissa Slotkin (MI).
Scott Bessent for Secretary of the Treasury
Of course, this guy is a billionaire hedge fund manager who contributed to the Trump campaign. He’s also part of Trump’s ploy to convince you you’re living in a reality, not based on facts. Bessent went to work bucking Nobel economists with dubious claims supporting tariffs (Trump’s pet issue because he wants to act alone).
Democratic Senators who voted yes: Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware; Maria Cantwell of Washington; Cory Booker of New Jersey; Chris Coons of Delaware; John Fetterman of Pennsylvania; Ruben Gallego of Arizona; Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire; John Hickenlooper of Colorado; Tim Kaine of Virginia; Mark Kelly of Arizona; Gary Peters of Michigan; Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire; Mark Warner of Virginia; Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) also voted for Bessent. (Source: Politico)
Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation (DOT)
Duffy was elected to Congress as part of the Tea Party wave in 2010. In the 90s, he had a stint on “MTV’s “The Real World: Boston,” and since leaving Congress, he’s been a strong Trump backer on Fox News, right up Trump’s alley. What’s really at stake here is Biden’s signature bills, The Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, both significantly run through DOT and have been hailed as our biggest-ever investment in climate. One of Trump’s crazy Executive Orders appears to call for an end to the implementation of funding and other resources for these bills. Democratic Senator Patty Murray, whose committee appointments mean she controls a lot of the oversight and approval for funding, released a statement saying she met with Duffy and “will be keeping a close eye to make sure Mr. Duffy faithfully executes the law.” If Trump’s out to destroy the law, do you think Mr. Duffy will stand up and fight back…hmmm. Any Senator who votes for Duffy should have to answer to that.
The following Democratic Senators voted to confirm Duffy: Alsobrooks (D-MD), Baldwin (D-WI), Bennet (D-CO), Cantwell (D-WA), Fetterman (D-PA), Gallego (D-AZ), Gillibrand (D-NY), Hassan (D-NH), Hickenlooper (D-CO), Kaine (D-VA), Kelly (D-AZ), Klobuchar (D-MN), Padilla (D-CA), Peters (D-MI), Rosen (D-NV), Schatz (D-HI), Schiff (D-CA), Schumer (D-NY), Shaheen (D-NH), Warner (D-VA), Warnock (D-GA), Welch (D-VT), Whitehouse (D-RI), King (I-ME). (Source: Senate.gov)
Christopher Wright for Secretary of Energy
Wright is the CEO of a fracking corporation called Liberty Energy. Trump is already making life more lucrative for the oil industry through his executive orders, and Wright’s shown little concern for the consequences of burning fossil fuels on the planet. Some Senators might compromise on this one for Wright’s openness to sources like nuclear energy, but if they vote yes, it’s a clear win for Trump’s agenda and a HUGE loss for the planet. The vote to confirm Wright is scheduled for Monday evening.
Democrats who voted yes: Bennet (D-CO), Gallego (D-AZ), Hassan (D-NH), Heinrich (D-NM), Hickenlooper (D-CO), King (I-ME), Lujan (D-NM), Shaheen (D-NH)
Pam Bondi for Attorney General
Installing one of your fiercest defenders of the traditionally independent Department of Justice is at the heart of this nomination.
The thing about Pam Bondi is on paper; she’s not an insane pick for the DOJ—to the extent that she has experience as Florida’s AG and as a prosecutor for the state attorney’s office. It’s all the other stuff about her that makes this insane. After Trump cut Bondi a nice campaign check, she dropped charges against his fraudulent Trump University. When Trump was impeached by the House for the first time, Bondi left her then-lobbying job to join Trump’s defense. She also failed to say decisively that Trump lost the 2020 election. So how does this sit with you? We’ve got a President who vowed to use the DOJ to prosecute his own political enemies. Given Bondi’s record, I don’t think we can expect much resistance from her. Democratic Senator John Fetterman (PA) was the lone Democrat to cross party lines and vote to confirm Bondi.
Upcoming Votes
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health & Human Services
When the government’s role in public health goes unnoticed, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Food is being safely handled and distributed, and mass disease is kept at bay. Sometimes, it just takes a complete buffoon to be named the head of public health for us to realize just how important this job is. Vaccines, for one, are a lifesaving measure that allows us all to walk the streets and go to work, school, and bars without contracting a deadly disease. Kennedy has a history of advocating against vaccines experts have deemed safe and effective. As Politico reported, Kennedy could remove recommendations for school children to receive certain vaccines. Invoking conspiracy theories and preying on parental fears around their children’s health is a special kind of evil. All that, and I haven’t even mentioned the US facing an extremely dangerous bird flu outbreak.
If confirmed, Kennedy could literally cost American lives.
Side note: Mike Pence is waging his own battle against RFK Jr. for his pro-choice stance, among other things. In an old GOP, that would have mattered. Now, what Trump wants matters more.
Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence
This is one of the rare Trump picks that may face issues from the Republican Senators (another was Hegseth). I actually remember collaborating with Gabbard’s staff back when she was a Democrat in Congress, and her main issue was stopping US interventionist wars. Anyways, she’s taken a very odd turn. She rose to national acclaim when she met with Syrian dictator & war criminal Bashar al-Assad back in 2017. Meanwhile, with Ukraine’s future made more uncertain by Trump’s election, Gabbard is a favorite on Russian state TV for her willingness to spread their propaganda. She’s interviewing to have the top intelligence job in the US…this one may actually be dangerous enough for Republicans to force Trump into abandoning Gabbard’s nomination. Time will tell.
Kash Patel for FBI Director
The grounds for this nomination can be largely traced back to Trump’s first term when his campaign was caught making side deals with Russians. To tamper the outcry when he got to the White House, Trump fired certain staffers involved, and Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy AG, appointed an FBI special counsel to investigate. This really pissed off Trump, and he started to call agencies like the FBI and DOJ part of a “deep state” ploy to undermine Trump. Eight years later and a second Trump term, enter Kash Patel, a fervent believer in the deep state and QAnon conspiracy sympathizer. What could go wrong? We know Trump wants to turn democratic institutions into self-serving ones, and someone like Patel would be one of his best enablers.