The Senate on Wednesday voted to end debate on the nomination of Ben Carson to lead President Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, setting up a Thursday vote on his confirmation.
Carson was advanced in a 62-37 vote.
Carson’s confirmation on Thursday afternoon will leave Trump just three nominees shy of a full Cabinet. Still awaiting Senate confirmation are energy secretary nominee Rick Perry, agriculture secretary nominee Sonny Perdue, and Alexander Acosta, who was nominated as Trump’s labor secretary last month after fast food millionaire Andy Puzder withdrew his nomination.
In January, the Senate Banking Committee unanimously voted to send Carson’s nomination to the Senate floor, a sign that Carson’s nomination was never controversial. That committee vote included support from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who have received flack from their progressive supporters for those votes.
