U.S. Senate confirmation hearings for several of Donald Trump’s nominees for top positions in his incoming presidential administration are underway.
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was critical of President Barack Obama’s administration for allowing the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israel for its treatment of Israel.
WATCH: Gov. Nikki Haley on need for strong America
U.S.-Israeli relations reached a low point last month when the Obama administration abstained from voting on a U.N. resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory. Haley’s testimony says the U.N. is “often at odds with American national interests” and the “U.N. seeks to create an international environment that encourages boycotts of Israel.”
Democrats will likely question Haley about her views on Russia and a recent U.S. intelligence community report concluding Russia tried to influence the presidential election in Trump’s favor.
Commerce Secretary-designate Wilbur Ross testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 18, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.
Commerce
Trump’s choice for Commerce Secretary, billionaire Wilbur Ross, faces questions before the Senate Commerce Committee about his extensive business ties throughout the world and Trump’s promise to increase American exports.
If confirmed, Ross would lead the department that carries out the incoming president’s stated goal of protecting U.S. workers and challenging years of globalization that has primarily benefited multinational corporations.
Ross, the 79-year-old chairman of a private equity firm, is known in financial circles as the “king of bankruptcy” for buying and restoring distressed companies to profitability.
After developing a specialty as a banker in bankruptcy and corporate restructuring, Ross launched W.L. Ross in 2000 and earned part of his fortune by investing in troubled factories in the industrial U.S. Midwest, sometimes generating profits by limiting employee benefits.
Earlier this week, Ross agreed with the Office of Government Ethics to divorce himself from his business affairs. Ross will divest from 40 businesses and investments within 90 days of being confirmed and divest from another 40 within 180 days.
The president-elect has been at odds with the head of the ethics agency over his refusal to divest himself of his business empire. Trump has said he will instead turn control of his business affairs to his sons.
Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., accompanied by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who introduced him, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 18, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Health and Human Services
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee questions Trump’s pick to head the department of Health and Human Services about the impact of Trump’s plans to replace President Obama’s health care law, which provides medical insurance for about 20 million people. Congressman Tom Price, who is an orthopedic surgeon, drafted his own plan to replace the law. An independent analysis concluded Price’s plan would have saved taxpayers money but would have covered fewer people.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Trump’s choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, faces tough questioning by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee about his ties to the energy industry. Pruitt is a climate change skeptic who, as Oklahoma’s top prosecutor, has sued the agency he has been nominated to lead more than a dozen times.
When he first became Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt eliminated the unit responsible for protecting the state’s natural resources.
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