Trump continues to roll out cabinet appointments, when do Senate confirmations start?

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - President-Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet is taking shape as more announcements continue. Each of the candidates nominated for a Secretary position will have to be confirmed by the Senate in order to hold that title. When will the confirmation process begin considering Congress is set to go on another break for Christmas in a few weeks?

Confirmations are set to take place at the beginning of January when the new Congress begins. The whole point of these hearings is to get the nominees sworn in by the time Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Senator John Hoeven said he thinks nominations will go smoothly. He said members want to get to work and get the nominees approved so that Congress can work on getting the country back on track.

Hoeven said the process consists of the nominees going to their specific committees and members will review them and report out to the floor. He said Congress will then vote on the candidate.

Many of Mr. Trump’s cabinet appointments have raised eyebrows, which could make some of the appointments a tough sell. However, Hoeven said he thinks Governor Burgum will be the easiest to confirm.

“I think he’s going to have strong support. Obviously, he’s been a governor, he’s worked with people on both sides of the aisle. He’s, I think, well known in really all of the issues that interior touches, whether it’s natural resources, Native Americans, and obviously in the energy world,” said Hoeven.

Hoeven said it is important that President-Elect Trump is able to put his team together and hit the ground running and get to work. He said this is what the American people voted for.

Reports say the only time the Senate has rejected a new president’s nominee was in 1989, when George H.W. Bush nominated John Tower, a former senator from Texas, to be his secretary of defense.