Trump’s cabinet picks should be confirmed quickly

T he new Senate will be sworn in on January 3, which is 17 days before the President’s inauguration on January 20th. We can have many of the confirmation hearings during that 17-day period. Then, on January 20th, shortly after the President gives his inaugural address, he’ll sign the formal papers to nominate people for Cabinet positions. The Senate should start working right away, promptly processing those nominees.

We should be working that day to confirm those nominees, and that’s what we should keep doing after the President is inaugurated.

I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advice and consent and allow the President to put the people in his Cabinet of his choosing. But if this thing bogs down, it would be a great detriment to the country. I am very hopeful – very hopeful – that the Senate will do its job, and that is, provide its advice and consent and move these nominees along.

They have an obligation to vet every nominee, and they will.

On the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its potential targeting of Israelis:

The House passed this bill months ago with more than 40 Democratic votes.

The International Criminal Court is targeting Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, for supposed war crimes, when in fact Israel is the victim of war crimes. This bill, that I helped draft, is based on an executive order issued by President Trump. It passed with strong bipartisan support.

Chuck Schumer could bring it up for a vote any time – he could bring it up this week. It would be a much better use of time than, say, confirming the head of the Office of Government Ethics, which we spent hours on last week.

The ICC, which is acting in a rogue fashion, could issue these arrest warrants at any time. We shouldn’t allow that to go forward without severe consequences against this rogue court and its rogue leader.

Sen. Tom Cotton