Donald Trump predicts Democrats will try to stall confirmation. Will that impact his Florida picks?

Pam Bondi, Marco Rubio.

President-elect Donald Trump is voicing concerns that Senate Democrats will try to stall confirmations for his administration. Does that signal trouble ahead for any of the Florida figures nominated to key posts?

Trump took to Truth Social to raise his concerns.

“We just won a Historic Landslide and Mandate from the American People, but Senate Democrats are organizing to improperly stall and delay the confirmation process of many of our Great Nominees,” Trump posted. “They will try all sorts of tricks starting very soon. Republicans must not allow them to do that. We have a Country to run, and many big problems to solve, mostly created by Democrats. REPUBLICANS, BE SMART AND TOUGH!!!”

Senate Democrats hold a majority right now, but that will disappear within days. A new Congress convenes on Friday, when Senate Republicans are expected to retake a majority with 53 seats.

That means Republicans will lead confirmation hearings. But Democrats still have the power to slow the process down, and some of Trump’s most controversial picks have drawn criticism from some Republican Senators.

Those don’t necessarily include most of the Floridians expected to take jobs in the administration. Trump most notably nominated U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Miami Republican, for Secretary of State, and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Tampa Republican, for U.S. Attorney General.

The Center for Presidential Transitions in November released a report showing Senate confirmations have become drawn out over the past four decades.

President Joe Biden’s nominations took an average time of 192 days to win Senate confirmation. By comparison, it took an average of 69 days to confirm nominations by former President Ronald Reagan, who served from 1981 to 1989.

During Trump’s first term, it took an average of 160 days to confirm nominees. With Republicans swooping into control of both the White House and Senate in January, that should signal smoother confirmations, but the report found little difference in the average length of confirmations whether or not the Senate was controlled by the same party as the White House.

Of note, confirmations move at a faster pace during the first year of any administration, when there’s added incentive to ensure leadership for federal agencies during a transition. “In fact, movement on Cabinet secretaries often occurs even before a new president takes office,” the Center for Presidential Transitions report reads.

Of Biden’s first 15 nominations for Cabinet positions, four had Senate hearings prior to Biden’s inauguration and six were confirmed within a month after he took office. For Trump’s first term, 12 nominees for Cabinet positions had hearings prior to Inauguration Day and nine were confirmed within a month of him taking office.

On average, Cabinet-level picks took an average of 32 days in both 2017 and 2021, the years Biden and Trump took office.

For Bondi and Rubio, both Cabinet-level appointments, that’s good news, especially as neither has drawn open skepticism from Republicans. Several other Trump nominees have proven more controversial with Senate Republicans, including Defense Secretary choice Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In Rubio’s case, some Democrats praised the Secretary of State nominee and predicted a quick confirmation.

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, called Rubio “unquestionably qualified” for the State role in an interview with “Meet the Press.” But in an MSNBC interview, he questioned the choice of Bondi, particularly because of her role in court challenges in Pennsylvania to Biden’s victory over Trump there in 2020.

“If she is going to be the Attorney General, what does that mean for how Donald Trump and the Justice Department treat all of those people convicted of assaulting police officers on Jan. 6?” Schiff said.

Bondi has already started rounds of meetings with Senate Republicans, and all have offered only praise. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who will chair the Judiciary Committee for Bondi’s Senate confirmation hearings, predicted a quick confirmation.

“Pam Bondi is a well-qualified nominee with an impressive legal career, including eight years as Attorney General of the State of Florida and nearly two decades spent as a prosecutor. Bondi is prepared to refocus the Justice Department (DOJ)’s attention where it ought to be: on enforcing the law and protecting Americans’ safety,” he said in a prepared statement. “The Judiciary Committee will move swiftly to consider her nomination when the 119th Congress convenes in January.”

Trump has also appointed other Floridians to less high-profile roles, and the process for those nominees could take much longer. For example, he selected former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon for Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also selected Orlando lawyer Dan Newlin as Ambassador to Colombia and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera as Ambassador to Panama, both important diplomatic posts.

All three of those appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.