Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for Cabinet-level posts begin today. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) faces off with the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9 a.m., and the Senate Homeland Security Committee questions retired Marine general John Kelly at 3 p.m.
The hearings will be closely watched—for the nominees’ views of their prospective roles in the Trump administration and for clues to Democrats about the fight they’ll have on their hands once Trump officially takes office.
Sessions’ multiple embroilments in race issues in the past should sink his confirmation as U.S. attorney general, civil rights leaders say, and many await Kelly’s responses to fears he’ll dramatically expand the power and authority of the police while targeting certain groups for “security” reasons.
Leid Stories looks at how the Trump Cabinet is shaping up with the vetting of his first two nominees, and what we should be preparing for.