While Representative Ryan Zinke awaits a full Senate confirmation vote to become the next secretary of the Interior under Donald Trump’s Administration, many Montanans are left wondering when that vote will actually happen. That includes Senator Jon Tester.
"I've got a notion it will be next week, but remember my crystal ball is awful cloudy, and it could be few weeks out," Tester says.
Tester adds the Senate schedule is already full for this week.
As for why the Senate has not yet voted on Representative Zinke’s confirmation?
"I think that right now, the priority was put on DeVos, and Price, and on Sessions and Mnuchin, and I think that's where the majority wants to move," Tester says. "They want to move on those four very controversial ones before they get to Perry and Zinke, and I think Perry and Zinke, neither one of those are near as controversial. I think that they'll go through, it's just a matter of getting them floor-time to send them through."
Six of the 23 cabinet positions that require Senate approval have been confirmed.
Representative Zinke and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Trump’s pick for Energy Secretary, cleared a vote by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 31.