President Trump will meet Wednesday with his secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, amid delays in confirmation votes for several other Cabinet nominees.
Tillerson and Trump are scheduled to have lunch at the White House after the president finishes his meeting with African-American leaders, a “listening session” that was designed to mark the start of Black History Month.
While Tillerson is expected to be confirmed Wednesday afternoon by the Senate, other nominees have faced Democratic roadblocks this week.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, suspended committee rules in order to vote for the confirmation of Trump’s treasury secretary and health and human service secretary picks after Democrats refused to show up for the committee meeting, preventing lawmakers from reaching a quorum.
The White House has expressed frustration with the slow pace of Senate confirmations, noting that most of former President Obama’s Cabinet picks were already in place by this point in his first term.
