Senate GOP Approves More Trump Nominees With Record Speed

The Senate voted to confirm two of President Donald Trump’s nominees in a bipartisan fashion Tuesday and Wednesday.

Senators voted 66 to 28 to clear Daniel Driscoll’s nomination to serve as the president’s Army secretary Tuesday. The upper chamber also confirmed Jamieson Greer to serve as the president’s top trade negotiator in a vote of 56 to 43 Wednesday afternoon.

Greer is Trump’s 19th cabinet nominee to be confirmed. Senate Republicans are on track to confirm the president’s 22 cabinet nominees at record speed, outpacing the confirmation schedules of the three previous administrations’ cabinet nominees.

Driscoll won bipartisan backing during his confirmation vote with 16 Senate Democrats joining with GOP senators to clear his nomination.

Driscoll has pledged to focus on the Army’s recruitment and retention issues during his tenure as Army secretary.

“If confirmed, America’s soldiers will be my mission,” Driscoll said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 30. “Recruitment and retention challenges demand innovative solutions and a renewed focus on quality of life for our troops and their families. The Army has a rich history filled with American heroes in both war and peace. With the Army’s 250th anniversary this year, we have a unique opportunity to tell those stories to a generation of future soldiers, who may not yet know that service is their path.”

Driscoll cleared the Senate Armed Services committee on Feb. 21.

Driscoll is an Iraq War Army veteran who previously worked in venture capital and served as a senior advisor to Vice President JD Vance.

Greer was supported by every GOP senator except for Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has criticized some of the president’s trade policies and has been outspoken about his support for free trade.

Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island backed Greer’s nomination.

“He spent three years of the previous Trump administration serving as chief of staff to then-U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who spoke highly of Mr. Greer’s work,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “He is, in short, very well prepared for this role.”

“President Biden’s trade representative was completely uninterested in working with Congress, so it is very encouraging to hear Mr. Greer’s commitment to communication and collaboration,” Thune added.

Greer cleared the Senate finance panel 15 to 12 on Feb. 12. Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse was the lone Democrat to back Greer’s nomination at the committee level.

Greer also formerly served as an Air Force lawyer and was deeply involved in crafting the first Trump administration’s trade policies, including the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Thune also criticized the Biden administration Tuesday for not negotiating a single free trade agreement during the former president’s four-year term.

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