Allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Axios last week that a GOP-controlled Senate would be willing to go along with Biden’s nominations for his administration, as long as they’re centrists.
But progressive activists say that path would be unacceptable, and they’re already putting pressure on the incoming Biden administration to go around the Senate so that McConnell doesn’t get to decide a Democratic Cabinet.
“There are legal tools are available and Biden should be unafraid to use every legal tool available — just as McConnell has used to stack the courts,” said Jeff Hauser, founder and director of the Revolving Door Project, which scrutinizes executive branch appointees for their ties to corporate interests.
The two main options center around using a law called the Vacancy Act, and appointing officials when the Senate is in recess. Transition officials have so far been unwilling to discuss what sort of strategies they’re considering.
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