Confirmation hearings scheduled for Marco Rubio, but delayed for Pam Bondi

Pam Bondi, Marco Rubio.

Updated

A confirmation hearing is scheduled for Marco Rubio, one of two Florida political leaders nominated for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet. But a similar hearing for Pam Bondi cannot be scheduled until the completion of an FBI background check.

Rubio, Florida’s senior U.S. Senator, was nominated by Trump to be the next Secretary of State. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a notice that it will hold a confirmation hearing for Rubio on Jan. 15 at 10 a.m.

So far, Rubio appears to be on a glide path to becoming the nation’s top diplomat.

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, the Idaho Republican now chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised Trump’s decision to appoint Rubio in November.

“Marco Rubio is a superb appointment to Secretary of State. Well done, Mr. President!” Risch posted on X at the time.

The Senate rarely rejects members of the body moving directly to Cabinet posts. In Rubio’s case, his selection has drawn praise from some Senate Democrats. In a “Meet the Press” interview, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, called the Florida Republican “unquestionably qualified” for Secretary of State. The Judiciary Committee member said he was inclined to vote “yes” on confirmation, but withheld offering outright support ahead of hearings.

As for Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General, was picked by Trump to become U.S. Attorney General. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, incoming Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, initially told reporters he wants to hold confirmation hearings for Bondi on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

But his office since confirmed it cannot set a hearing date yet. Instead, senators must await the completion of an FBI background check and for Bondi to submit all financial disclosures for review.

Grassley last week said in a Fox News Business interview he wanted the hearing to take place quickly, but hinted at potential delays in the process. He said the confirmation process can be sped up if Trump’s transition team can provide an ethics background report with haste. “We don’t have any of that paper yet. I want to get it so I can schedule her hearing,” he said.

But as of Tuesday, as Senate committees prepared their first hearing schedules of the new Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee still did not have all the documentation.

The FBI background check involves conducting a series of interviews with individuals associated with Bondi and could be time consuming. Until that is done, it remains uncertain if the committee will be able to conduct hearings in January. It now appears unlikely the hearings will take place before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.