Washington — Less than two months since President Trump’s inauguration, the Republican-led Senate has confirmed nearly every one of his Cabinet nominees.
A vote has yet to be scheduled for the final nominee — Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who is poised to become the ambassador to the United Nations. House Republicans, who are operating with a one-vote majority, can’t risk losing another member. Special elections to fill two vacant seats will be held on April 1, creating more breathing room for Stefanik’s expected departure.
There are 22 Cabinet positions, each requiring Senate confirmation. CBS News also included the divisive vote for FBI director, which is not a Cabinet role, in our tally.
Republicans largely fell in line, even after some expressed concern about Mr. Trump’s more controversial picks, while few Democrats were willing to give them their stamp of approval, especially as the president moved to overhaul the federal agencies that these nominees oversee.
Here’s how members of each party voted:
A handful of Democrats supported nearly half of the nominees. Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire each voted for 10 of Mr. Trump’s nominees.
Ten Democrats supported only one of Mr. Trump’s picks — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who represented Florida in the Senate before his confirmation. Rubio was confirmed hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in and was the only nominee to receive unanimous support. But at least two of the Democrats who only voted for Rubio — Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland — have since said they regretted backing him, given the Trump administration’s treatment of Ukraine.
Besides Rubio, seven other nominees received significant support from Democrats: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
See more here on how each Democrat voted for every nominee.
Only five of the 53 Republicans in the upper chamber defected to vote against at least one of the president’s nominees.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky led the pack with four “no” votes. He voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Chavez-DeRemer.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also voted against Hegseth, forcing Vice President JD Vance to cast a tie-breaking vote. Collins and Murkowski also withheld their support from Kash Patel, who was narrowly confirmed as FBI director.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who isn’t afraid to buck his party, voted against Jamieson Greer as U.S. trade representative and Chavez-DeRemer.
Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina cast his only “no” vote against Chavez-DeRemer.
So far, 40 Republican senators have voted in favor of all of the nominees. Another eight supported them all when they weren’t absent.
See more here on how each Republican voted for every nominee.
