Scott Turner cited a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report of record homelessness last year, and tied that increase to an influx in illegal immigration.
“When you have 12 to 20 million people coming across illegally to our country, it is going to be a great burden on economy, on housing, on homelessness, on health in our country,” Turner told senators on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Jan. 16 announced that Ashley Moody, Florida’s attorney general, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, praising her as someone who will deliver results in step with the incoming administration’s America-first agenda.
Rubio is expected to resign from his seat upon receiving Senate approval to become the next U.S. Secretary of State, and DeSantis said Moody will quickly fill the vacant seat.
In response to a question from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominee former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.
“I would say no,” Zeldin said. “As far as carbon dioxide that is emitted in larger masses that we hear concern about from scientists as well as from Congress, that's something that certainly needs to be focused on for the EPA.”
The U.S. Senate will continue its slate of high-stakes hearings to consider President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominations days before his inauguration.
Billionaire financier Scott Bessent, whom Trump tapped to head the Treasury Department, will headline the Jan. 16 schedule and appear before the Senate Finance Committee.
Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, whose confirmation hearing for secretary of the Department of Interior was delayed over paperwork issues, will sit in front of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
It could be said that President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent’s plan for the world’s largest economy was inspired by the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A decade ago, the Japanese prime minister sought to overhaul the economy using a strategy called the “Three Arrows.” The three-pronged approach consisted of increasing government spending, easing monetary policy, and adjusting the economic landscape to bolster growth prospects.
John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for CIA director, told senators Wednesday that he would prioritize meritocracy in the agency, bring the cyber fight to China, and maintain robust intelligence gathering capabilities that have at times been weaponized against Americans.
Ratcliffe, who served as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) during the first Trump administration and previously served as a U.S. House representative for Texas, delivered the remarks to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during a Jan. 15 hearing to vet his nomination to lead the CIA.
Putting Merit First
Ratcliffe said he would employ “the ultimate meritocracy” throughout the agency and would seek to remove what he considered a “politically motivated, bureaucratically imposed social justice agenda” that distracts from the agency’s core mission.
The atmosphere was congenial as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) faced the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in a confirmation hearing on Jan. 15.
Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, testified before a committee he has served on for 14 years. He addressed foreign policy questions from friendly colleagues on both sides of the political aisle to move forward with his confirmation process, with the chair and the ranking member of the committee concurring that he is qualified for the job.
As the son of Cuban immigrants who fled communism and built a stable life in the United States, Rubio was critical of the challenges presented by communist regimes such as China. He promised a robust foreign policy agenda that prioritizes U.S. interests and restores the global order that Beijing and other adversarial nations have weaponized to their advantage.
Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright told key senators that, if confirmed, he would embrace an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy development, sustain funding for research programs, slash permitting timelines, encourage natural gas exports, and accelerate electric grid expansion.
During his nearly three-hour Jan. 15 nomination hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to lead the Department of Energy (DOE) said that upon assuming office, he would “immediately” freeze more than $25 billion in loans being processed by the DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO) in the wake of recent inspector general (IG) disclosures.
Wright, the MIT-educated CEO of Colorado-based Liberty Energy, among the nation’s largest fracking contractors, was less resolute when asked how he would respond as DOE chief to anticipated efforts by the Trump administration to “claw back” funding in the annual budgets and spending programs authorized over multiple years by Congress.
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 as part of her confirmation process to serve as the next attorney general of the United States.
During the hearing, both sides of the aisle focused on concerns about the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Bondi pledged not to engage in.
Democrats tended to focus on Bondi’s ties with President-elect Donald Trump and her willingness to maintain the DOJ’s independence from the White House. She also encountered questions about illegal immigration, national security, and FISA warrants.
Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) has vowed to prioritize safety at the Department of Transportation, saying it would remain the top priority with aviation if he is confirmed by the Senate to lead the agency.
Duffy opened with those promises during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Jan. 15. Throughout questioning from senators of both parties, Duffy said he endorses the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continuing its oversight of Boeing, supports continued infrastructure funding, and wants full transparency on the mystery drones reported over multiple U.S. states for the past several months.
The hearing, led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), was cordial. Both Republican and Democratic senators expressed their fondness for Duffy and his vision of prioritizing safety with the Transportation Department.