This week will be busy on Capitol Hill as 13 of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees will be questioned by Senate committees.
While Trump cannot formally submit nominations until he is president—as he will do so shortly after taking the oath of office on Jan. 20—the committees can and will hold hearings featuring the nominees so they can be confirmed upon him entering office.
Constitutional Requirement
Almost all Cabinet nominees require Senate confirmation in accordance with the Constitution, which states that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for.”…