Senate forces Biden into personnel standstill ahead of 2024
BY ALEX GANGITANO AND AL WEAVER - 08/06/23 6:00 AM ETThe Senate’s unprecedented lack of action on President Biden’s nominees has left the administration at a personnel standstill, with a Cabinet official’s confirmation process at a dead end and military leadership unable to move forward with promotions.
Almost six months after the president nominated Julie Su to head the Department of Labor, the Senate has made little progress getting her across the finish line because moderate Democrats do not support her. Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is holding up hundreds of military advancements in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
The Senate went into August recess with no end in sight to Tuberville’s hold and could go into the 2024 election without a confirmed Labor secretary.
The former Labor secretary, Marty Walsh, is the first and only Cabinet official to leave the Biden administration. Reports swirled about Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wanting to leave her post after the 2022 midterm elections, but she shut down the rumors at the time.
Multiple sources close to the administration say that as the 2022 election approached, there was a point when Cabinet officials were told if they wanted to leave, they should leave at that time. Administrations typically want a solid team in place going into an election. If Yellen were to have left, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was floated as her replacement, but backfilling that spot would have been the challenge, sources mentioned.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4138042-biden-faces-confirmation-struggles/
