Cruz signals tough road for Biden nominees until election lawsuits resolved

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is warning that the Senate might not start the confirmation process for any of President-elect Joe Biden’s nominees until all election-related lawsuits are resolved.

“As long as there’s litigation ongoing, and the election result is disputed, I do not think you will see the Senate act to confirm any nominee,” Cruz said in an interview with Axios published Thursday.

His remarks followed similar comments by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who said he would hold a hearing next week on the “irregularities” of the 2020 election.

President Trump earlier this week asked Cruz to argue the lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) if the Supreme Court takes up the case, which seeks to overturn the election results from key battleground states won by Biden.

The reluctance on the part of several Republican lawmakers to initiate the confirmation process for Biden’s Cabinet picks, by holding confirmation hearings, could prevent Biden from having key members in place when he takes office on Jan. 20.

Nominees for incoming administrations typically receive a majority of their nominees’ hearings before Inauguration Day.

If Democrats win both Senate runoff races in Georgia on Jan. 5, they would win control of the chamber and be in a position to speed along the confirmation process starting Jan. 20.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has been a critic of Trump’s litigation challenging the election, told Axios on Tuesday that he thinks “a president is entitled to the team he wants to put together, unless they’re completely off the mark, and so I’ll give them a good read,” referring to Biden’s Cabinet nominees.