Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will hold votes for all of President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees, he pledged in an interview.
Speaking Monday to Louisville Courier-Journal columnist Scott Jennings, a former adviser and GOP strategist, McConnell (R-Ky.) made the remarks while discussing the opposition Senate Democrats expressed toward President Trump’s first round of nominees in the early days of his presidency.
“They [Biden’s nominees] aren’t all going to pass on a voice vote, and they aren’t all going to make it, but I will put them on the floor,” the highest-ranking Republican said.
McConnell did not reference any nominees by name, but made the pledge one week after acknowledging Biden’s win on the Senate floor following the Electoral College’s vote to certify the election a week ago.
Asked by Jennings what kind of legislating he expected from the incoming administration and Congress, the Kentucky senator said he interpreted the election results as a message from Americans for the two parties to operate “between the 40-yard lines.”
Getting specific, McConnell referenced infrastructure, which he predicted was one of the first places both parties would find common ground on increased spending.
“We still have to figure out how to pay for it,” he added.
“I think the American people expect us to look for areas of agreement in a divided system while setting aside for debate the things we don’t agree on.”
McConnell also acknowledged his relationship with Biden as a “friendship,” noting he was the only Senate Republican to attend the funeral of Biden’s son Beau. This will mark the longest relationship the GOP leader has had with any of the presidents he has served alongside.
In the final weeks of the Obama administration — with Biden acting as president of the Senate in his capacity as vice president — McConnell paid tribute to his friend on the Senate floor and offered an insight into their working relationship.
“He doesn’t waste time telling me why I am wrong. He gets down to brass tacks, and he keeps in sight the stakes. There’s a reason ‘Get Joe on the phone’ is shorthand for ‘Time to get serious’ in my office.”