Democrats will focus on more controversial nominees

To defeat any of Trump’s nominees, Democrats will have to keep the 48 members of their caucus unified, and already Manchin is signaling he’s likely to vote with Republicans barring damaging revelations in the vetting process.

Incoming Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) knows he doesn’t have unlimited political capital, and there are other nominees that his party views as more problematic than Tillerson, namely Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who has been tapped to serve as attorney general, and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), who is slated to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sessions has good relationships in the Senate but allegedly racist comments from his past and his potential authority over civil rights makes him one of the most objectionable nominees to the liberal base.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), the most influential liberal voice in the caucus, has indicated he plans to fight a major battle over Sessions, urging her colleagues not to “compromise with racism.”