[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 202 (Tuesday, December 1, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Biden Administration Nominees

  Madam President, now, on another matter. President-Elect Biden 
continues to roll out an impressive slate of candidates he intends to 
nominate to his Cabinet and other key administrative positions. They 
provide an incredibly stark contrast to the caliber of the nominees the 
Senate considered over the past 4 years. Not only are President-Elect 
Biden's nominees exceptionally qualified and familiar with the 
institutions to which they are nominated, but they have a broad range 
of backgrounds and experiences. They actually look like America.
  Today, I will be meeting with President-Elect Biden's intended 
Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, and his intended Director of National 
Intelligence, Avril Haines, who is the first woman to be nominated to 
serve in that position. Like most Americans are doing these days, our 
``meeting'' will take place over a video chat, and I am looking forward 
to asking both Mr. Blinken and Ms. Haines about their views on a range 
of issues concerning American diplomacy, foreign policy, and national 
security, and how to repair some of the damage to America's reputation 
and relationships abroad done by the past administration.
  Now, after what all we went through over the past 4 years, I would 
expect that almost all of President-Elect Biden's nominees would be 
widely acceptable to the Senate. After all, Senate Republicans 
confirmed several Trump nominees who lacked the necessary 
qualifications, who were mired in ethics scandals, and who made 
outrageous and inflammatory comments in the past.
  Republican Senators often argued that a President deserves broad 
deference when it comes to their Cabinet and official appointments and 
blew past controversies that would in almost any other time be 
disqualifying. President-Elect Biden's nominees, of course, are in a 
different universe.
  Well, we are already starting to see the switch start to flip now 
that President-Elect Biden is the one naming the names. To take just 
one example, Senate Republicans reacted to the historic nomination of 
Neera Tanden to run the Office of Management and Budget by calling her 
``radioactive,'' a ``nutjob,'' and expressing alarm over some critical 
tweets in the past.
  After spending 4 years pretending they didn't see the latest insane 
tweet from President Trump, Senate Republicans seem to have found a 
newfound interest in the Twitter feeds of Biden's Cabinet selections.
  With respect to the Office of Management and Budget specifically, 
Senate Republicans lined up to confirm the previous OMB Director, 
Russell Vought, after he was at the heart of the scandal that led to 
President Trump's impeachment: withholding security aid to an ally at 
war, Ukraine.-
  If Senate Republicans are worried about someone with a partisan 
background in OMB, perhaps they shouldn't have voted to confirm Russell 
Vought, who used to work not just at the Heritage Foundation but for 
its partisan advocacy arm. If Senate Republicans are concerned about 
someone who made controversial comments running OMB, perhaps they 
shouldn't have confirmed Russell Vought, who once said: ``Muslims do 
not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they 
have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.''
  That was the previous OMB Director condemning an entire religion. The 
Republican majority confirmed him despite these inflammatory comments, 
despite his conduct as interim Director, and despite his career as a 
partisan warrior.
  But a few critical tweets about substantive policy positions have 
caused Senate Republicans to label Ms. Tanden's nomination 
``radioactive.'' Spare us the hyperbole. Ms. Tanden, we all know, is an 
eminently qualified nominee who would be the first woman of color to 
ever run the Office of Management and Budget.
  As Biden continues to name his team, I am sure we will hear some more 
of these overblown complaints from Republican Senators, but after the 
caliber of nominees that this Republican majority confirmed over the 
past 4 years, it will be impossible--impossible--to take them 
seriously.
  The Senate committees should prepare to hold hearings on President-
Elect Biden's nominees in January, immediately after the Georgia 
elections. Let me say that again. The Senate committees should prepare 
to hold hearings on President-Elect Biden's nominees in January, 
immediately after the Georgia elections.
  That is customary for a new President. The Senate holds several 
hearings in January so that key Cabinet officials can be confirmed on 
January 20 and shortly thereafter. That is what the Senate did for 
President Trump and President Obama. That is what the Senate must do 
for President-Elect Biden as well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.