Trump forced to resubmit almost 100 nominees after Senate fails to approve them

Nominees will have to resubmit up to 70 pages of paperwork in some cases

KT McFarland, Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to Singapore, speaks during a conference on the transition of the US Presidency from Obama to Trump (Chris Kleponis/Getty Images)

Donald Trump will have to resubmit nearly 100 of his nominees for judgeships, department heads, and ambassadorships in the new year, after the Senate left town without voting to keep them under consideration.

Senate rules require any nominees not yet confirmed to be sent back to the White House at the end of the first session – unless they vote unanimously to hold them over. The Senate agreed to hold over about 150 of Mr Trump’s nominations, leaving about 100 to be resubmitted next year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office told Politico.

Nominees who are resubmitted by the White House will also have to turn in up-to-date paperwork. Doing so could be time-consuming, especially for those nominees who have been under consideration for months.

The paperwork requires a detailed explanation of nominees’ financial lives and can exceed 60 to 70 pages, lawyers representing some of the nominees told Politico.

Holding over nominations has rarely been an issue in past administrations. Only eight nominees were not carried over in the first year of the Obama administration, and only two were sent back during President George W Bush’s first year in office, Senator James Lankford said.

The decision not to carry over Mr Trump’s nominees may have been a political calculation on the part of Democrats, but could also reflect concerns about the quality of the President’s picks.

One nominee who will have to be resubmitted is KT McFarland, who Mr Trump picked to be the ambassador to Singapore. Ms McFarland has faced serious questions about her contacts with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI last month.

Another nominee is Kathleen Hartnett-White, the President’s pick to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Ms Harnett-White stammered, paused, and contradicted herself throughout her hearing in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and barely made it through to a full Senate vote. Now, she will be forced to face the environmental committee for another vote in the new year.

The situation reflects a larger issue with the slow pace of Mr Trump’s nominations. Four of the President’s nominees went down over the span of the last week, after either withdrawing themselves from consideration or being shot down in a Senate vote. One nominee was even shot down by a Republican-controlled committee.

Incoming presidents need to fill more than 4,000 positions, approximately a quarter of which require Senate confirmation, according to the Centre for Presidential Transition. At this time in their presidencies, Mr Obama and Mr Bush had confirmed more than 400 nominations each. Mr Trump has confirmed just 300.