All Over Albany

How Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are voting on the Trump cabinet nominations

Updated February 2

The other day we mentioned that Kirsten Gillibrand had, at that point, voted against each of the Trump administration cabinet nominations -- the only US Senator to do so. She's been getting national attention for that fact this week, and in comments here at AOA people were interested, too.

With that interest in mind -- and to make it easy to find the info in one place for New York's Senators -- we're putting together a running tally of how Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer are voting on the Donald Trump's cabinet picks. We'll update it as votes come along in the Senate.

Let's have a look...

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The table of votes is at the top in large format -- click or scroll all the way up.

Notes

Defense
Gillibrand was the lone "nay" vote on James Mattis, the pick for Secretary of Defense. She had opposed his nomination because he's a former general and his seven-year waiting period since retirement hadn't lapsed -- she said she was concerned about violating the principle of civilian control of the military. [The Hill]

Schumer said he was impressed by the experience of Mattis and Homeland Security pick Kelly and the Trump administration needed the experience: "I thought it was important to approve the security nominees and not leave those positions vacant." [Buffalo News]

Transportation
Schumer and Gillibrand were two of just six votes against Elain Chao's confirmation. The others voting no: Cory Booker (NJ), Jeff Merkley (OR), Bernie Sanders (VT), Elizabeth Warren (MA). [WP]

State
Schumer on Tillerson: "When I met with Mr. Tillerson, I came away more concerned about his and the president's plans and unimpressed with his grasp on foreign policy." [The Hill]

Why Senators vote the way they do
At Vox there's an interesting look at why some Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren -- who's been a very vocal critic of Donald Trump -- are voting to approve some of his cabinet picks. [Vox]