Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talks about President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees on Thursday. | AP Photo Senate Dems will only allow two Trump nominees to be confirmed on Day One ‘We intend to have a full and rigorous debate on the president-elect’s remaining nominees,’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Less than 24 hours before Donald Trump is formally sworn in as the 45th president, the Senate plunged into a partisan war over who'll get confirmed for his Cabinet on the first day of his presidency.

Senate Democrats are prepared to allow two of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees to be confirmed on Day One — but for them, that’s where the senatorial comity ends.


At the same time, Republicans are broadening their wish list of Day One nominees to other Cabinet hopefuls, including Ben Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Nikki Haley to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The battle over who will get confirmed on Friday may not be defused, aides say, until senators begin processing the nominees later Friday afternoon.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that his caucus will allow quick votes on retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to lead the Pentagon and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly to become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, two national-security nominees who’ve faced little controversy in the narrowly divided Senate. As for another national security pick, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Schumer said Democrats “look forward to beginning to debate” on his nomination but said a confirmation vote for Pompeo might not come until Monday.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a vocal critic of broad government surveillance powers, was displeased with Pompeo's responses on the issue during his confirmation hearing and in written remarks, and an aide said the Oregon senator is objecting to holding a confirmation vote for him on Friday.

“It’s possible that some other noncontroversial nominees could be considered relatively quickly,” Schumer told reporters on Thursday. “But from there, we intend to have a full and rigorous debate on the president-elect’s remaining nominees.”

Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have been privately negotiating which Trump nominees could be swiftly installed on the first day of his presidency. Core members of his national security team, such as Kelly, Mattis and Pompeo, have long been viewed as candidates for quick confirmation, as has Transportation nominee Elaine Chao, who is married to McConnell.

Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blasted Schumer at his first televised briefing with reporters, accusing Schumer and Democrats of obstructing a smooth transition between two administrations.

"I think what's a shame right now is to see some of those individuals who we would call consensus candidates — people who even they didn't find a problem with, people like secretary Elaine Chao, Ben Carson, Nikki Haley — suddenly not be part of Senator Schumer's list that he will work with us to get done on Day One," Spicer said. "I think that it speaks volumes that the Democratic leadership is not working with us to ensure our continuity of government."

In an interview with Gray Television’s Washington bureau, McConnell also signaled that he is pushing for more confirmations than those who were initially presumed nominees — and appeared to hint that Democrats are holding up the installation of Chao, who is perhaps the most noncontroversial nominee.

“There are a bunch of other nominees that aren’t controversial. Two of them happen to be women, three of them happen to be minorities that are not controversial,” McConnell said during the interview. “And the Democrats say they are going to sit on them now. Why? There is no rational basis, because nobody seems to be opposed to them.”

During his news conference with reporters, Schumer declined to elaborate on why Democrats weren't yet agreeing to quick votes on other nominees such as Chao. But on Carson, the New York Democrat noted that the former pediatric neurosurgeon "doesn’t know a thing about housing policy" and "that cries out for more serious discussion."

Republicans have been crying foul at the Democrats' tactics for weeks, noting that the GOP allowed seven of President Barack Obama’s nominees to be confirmed on his first day in office. The seven were nominees to lead the departments of Interior, Agriculture, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, as well as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates was also in position, since he was a holdover from the George W. Bush administration.

“I would expect to be treated the same way that we treated President Obama’s nominees, and so at a minimum, seven nominees,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), the second-ranking Senate Republican, said Thursday morning.

In another contrast to the rapid-fire confirmations that the Senate finished on Jan. 20, 2009, the votes for Kelly and Mattis will be record, roll-call votes, Schumer said. All seven of Obama’s nominees who were confirmed on his first day were swift voice-votes. But Schumer indicated that Democrats want to at least have a chance to debate even the non-controversial nominees on the floor.

"You all know how the Senate rules work. This is not just up to me," Schumer said. "If any one of my colleagues wants time to question on the floor, to make statements on the floor, they have the right to do that."

Madeline Conway contributed to this report.