News: President Donald Trump has been taking an unusually active role in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s consideration of his nominees to top diplomatic posts, fueling a record confirmation pace on the Senate floor.
SFRC’s rapid approval of these nominations is due in no small part to Trump’s frequent phone calls to and weekly Oval Office meetings with the panel’s chair, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho).
As of this week, the panel has approved more than two dozen Trump nominees for senior State Department roles and foreign ambassadorships. In doing so, Democrats say Republicans are violating long-standing committee traditions in order to satisfy Trump.
“He’s totally immersed in it… I get calls morning, noon and night from him,” Risch told us of Trump’s involvement. “A lot of [the nominees] are people that are close to him. They call him. And you know what he does? He calls me.”
The dynamic has frustrated Democrats. Last month, amid a procedural kerfuffle over Mike Huckabee’s nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel, the Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat lamented Trump’s influence on committee business.
“I’m tired of Donald Trump pulling the strings of this committee,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) could be heard saying at the panel’s business meeting.
Trump the Sherpa: The extent of Trump’s involvement here is without precedent. While it’s not uncommon for presidents to get in the weeds on Supreme Court or Cabinet-level picks, this is much different.
Many of the nominees have been among Trump’s biggest boosters and allies, which helps explain his interest. For example, Trump pushed for Huckabee’s swift approval behind the scenes. Risch denied a Democratic request to hold Huckabee’s nomination until the next business meeting, which is normally honored.
There are also family ties at play, including Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law, Charles Kushner. The elder Kushner was nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to France. Democrats staged a walkout last week after they said Risch noticed a markup without their approval. Kushner’s nomination was included on the agenda.
The rapid pace is a 180-degree shift from how the committee operated last year, when then-ranking member Risch was able to stall most committee business in protest of Democrats’ refusal to consider legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court. It’s also a departure from Trump’s first term, when the nomination churn was much slower.
Democratic pushback: For Democrats, it’s a catch-22. They see Trump as exerting improper pressure on Risch to the point where committee precedents intended to accommodate the minority are being ignored. Shaheen said last week’s walkout came about because Republicans “violated rules and traditions of the committee.”
On the other hand, Democrats have long complained about the dearth of Senate-confirmed ambassadors over the years, stemming from a mix of GOP holds and Democratic leaders’ unwillingness to prioritize them on the floor.
“This was a concern I had when the Republicans were blocking all of Biden’s nominees and Obama’s, for that matter — that it’s in our interest to have our diplomats on the ground,” Shaheen said. “We need to do that.”
