WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have drawn battle lines on Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and signaled they’ll fight hard during confirmation hearings against several nominees.
The most vigorous battles are expected over Georgia Rep. Tom Price for Health and Human Services secretary and Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary.
Anti-Wall Street crusaders Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are leading the revolt against Mnuchin, 53, a former Goldman Sachs partner, Hollywood financier and hedge-fund manager.
They’ve dubbed him “another Wall Street insider” who profited from the foreclosure crisis. Warren even called him the “Forrest Gump of the financial crisis.”
“Donald Trump promised he was not going to have a government that was going to work for Wall Street,” Warren told CNN. “… And then he turns around and his first big economic appointment is to appoint a Wall Street insider, a guy who made millions of dollars off mortgages that crushed families financially.”
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, also blasted the Mnuchin pick.
“It does strike me as an odd way of draining the swamp to bring in a new alligator from Wall Street,” King told CNN on Thursday.
Republicans are expecting 52 seats in the Senate next year, enough to clear Trump’s picks if the party line holds.
A simple majority — rather than the typical 60 votes — is needed to confirm cabinet nominations.
So Democrats would have to pick off a few centrist Republicans to have any hope of achieving their blocks.
Incoming Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said it’s “possible” to garner enough votes to block Price once Republicans review his record.
Price, a 62-year-old doctor, has led efforts in the House to replace ObamaCare and undo the Medicare entitlement program for seniors.
Democrats initially raised concerns and protests over Trump’s pick for chief strategist, Steve Bannon. But White House staff picks require no Senate confirmation.
A confident Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week he’ll hold votes on several of Trump’s cabinet choices on his inauguration day Jan. 20 so he’ll have a team in place on “Day One.”
In light of slim GOP majorities, McConnell also made clear he won’t recuse himself from voting for his wife, Elaine Chao, Trump’s nominee for transportation secretary. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions could also vote for himself for his attorney general confirmation.