The Senate yesterday confirmed Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary in a 68-29 vote, with Bessent winning the support of 16 Democrats/independents who will play a major role in the coming tax and trade fights. The arrival of Mr. Bessent at Treasury will herald a sharp departure from the policies of the Biden administration. The department’s programs that were focused on equity and climate are expected to be shuttered, and Mr. Bessent has said that staff will no longer be allowed to work remotely. Many of the executive orders that Mr. Trump signed during his first week in office will fall to the Treasury Department and Mr. Bessent to study. He has already been asked to investigate the viability of a new “External Revenue Service” that would collect tariff revenue, to review the currency practices of U.S. trading partners and to identify foreign countries that subject Americans to discriminatory taxes.
Sean Duffy is well on the way to confirmation as Transportation secretary with a vote at 12:00 P.M. today, after clearing a procedural vote 97-0 yesterday.
For today, the Senate will vote on confirmation of Sean Duffy, of Wisconsin, to be Secretary of Transportation and then take up a Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Cal. #3, H.R.23, the ICC bill. This procedural vote later today will provide an initial signal of how Senate Democrats plan to navigate Republicans’ push to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for accusing Israeli leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court also leveled similar arrest warrants at Hamas leaders. Predictably, the bill puts some Democrats in a tricky political spot. Senate Democrats tried to negotiate changes to the House bill over the weekend — but the expectation is that Republicans will press ahead with the bill as it stands today, hopeful they can pick up the seven Democrat votes they need to get over the 60-vote threshold. It’s well worth watching how the vote shakes out to see how many — and which — Democrats decide to back the GOP bill, just as it was with the Laken Riley furor a few weeks ago.
The House is not in session this week as Republicans hold their annual retreat in Miami at Trump Doral.
