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Delays on Biden's Secretary of State Nominee Put National Security At Risk
Reports show Blinken’s nomination has been stalled by Senate Republicans in Committee “It is unacceptable that Senate Republicans wasted valuable time dragging their feet on Antony Blinken’s nomination, putting our national security at risk”
WASHINGTON
Today, reporting revealed that delays in the Senate make it unlikely that President-elect Biden's nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will have a confirmation hearing before Inauguration Day. This would be the first time in 10 transitions of power that the incoming president's pick for State wouldn't have a hearing or have already been confirmed prior to January 20th. Blinken was one of President-elect Biden's first Cabinet picks on November 24, 2020. According to reports, Blinken completed paperwork on December 31, but his nomination has stalled as Senate Republicans worked to obstruct a speedy confirmation process. By contrast, President Trump's pick for secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, came before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 11, 2017, and President Obama's first pick for the department, Hillary Clinton, had her hearing on January 13, 2009.
Since President-elect Biden's victory, President Trump and his allies in the Senate have done everything in their power to block a smooth transition to the next administration -- including on matters of national security -- and to slow-walk the confirmation process for Biden's nominees. Senate Republicans have known since the election that they were going to maintain control of the Senate during the transition period, meaning the delays for Blinken and other national security nominees lay squarely at their feet. Earlier today, the Accountable Senate War Room released an in-depth memo outlining how, with less than two weeks until Inauguration Day, Senate Republicans are already dramatically behind on the Cabinet nomination process and why these delays put Americans' national security and public health interests at an even greater risk.
"It is unacceptable that Senate Republicans wasted valuable time dragging their feet on Antony Blinken's nomination, effectively putting our national security at risk when President-elect Biden takes office in nine days," said Mairead Lynn, spokesperson for the Accountable Senate War Room. "It is time for Senate Republicans to stop slow-walking Blinken's nomination and get to work advancing the President-elect's steady, competent choice for secretary of state."
Read more in Accountable Senate War Room's MEMO
Watchdog group Accountable.US recently launched the Accountable Senate War Room to fight back against those lawmakers who seek to overturn the will of the people by standing in the way of the smooth transition of power and the swift approval of nominees to ensure that the government can function and deliver results for the American people.
Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.
LATEST NEWS
Pentagon Official Admits Musk AI Tool Grok Was Used to Help Fire '2,000 Munitions' at Iran
The Defense Department's chief AI officer said the US military used a Grok model to help "deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets" in Iran "within 96 hours."
Jun 17, 2026
A Pentagon official revealed in a court filing earlier this week that the US military used a version of trillionaire Elon Musk's artificial intelligence tool, Grok, to help carry out attacks on Iran.
Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon's chief digital and AI officer, wrote in a sworn statement to a federal court in Mississippi that the US military "relies on derivatives of [Musk-run xAI's] commercial offerings known as the Grok Gov Model." The model, which is used within the Pentagon's Maven Smart System, "enabled US forces to deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury," the Trump administration's name for the illegal war the president launched against Iran in late February.
Stanley's statement came as part of a lawsuit that the NAACP brought against xAI earlier year, accusing Musk's company of illegally operating dozens of polluting gas turbines for its Colossus 2 data center, which powers Grok.
Defending xAI, Stanley claimed in his statement that if Grok "cannot be deployed, refined, and upgraded" across the Pentagon "due to either limitations in energy supply or limited reserve compute capability, such as those requested by plaintiffs in this matter, the many tools deployed by military and civilian personnel alike which rely on Grok Gov Models would be severely impacted."
The Defense Department acknowledged shortly after launching its assault on Iran that the US military was "leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools" to help "sift through vast amounts of data in seconds so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react."
In a March 12 letter to Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, a group of more than 120 House Democrats demanded details on "the role of artificial intelligence... in selecting targets, assessing intelligence, and making legal determinations during Operation Epic Fury."
The lawmakers specifically asked whether AI tools were used to identify an Iranian elementary school as a target. On the first day of the Iran war, the US military bombed a girls' school in southern Iran, killing more than 150 people—mostly young children.
Stanley's statement did not identify any of the "2,000 distinct targets" he said were attacked with the help of the Grok Gov Model.
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Trump Accused of 'Abandoning Kids With Disabilities' in New Assault on Education Department
"By moving special education from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services, the administration is taking us back to a dark period in American history."
Jun 17, 2026
The Trump administration accelerated its assault on the US Education Department on Tuesday by announcing that the agency's work defending civil rights and students with disabilities will be placed under the authority of other federal departments, a move that teachers, Democratic lawmakers, and advocacy organizations condemned as illegal and disastrous for vulnerable children.
Linda McMahon, the billionaire education secretary who has enthusiastically advanced the destruction of her own agency, announced the transfer of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services—which oversees the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)—to the US Department of Health and Human Services, headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Additionally, the Justice Department will oversee the work of the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, McMahon said, claiming the changes would "break down the bureaucratic barriers and strengthen the coordination of resources to improve programs that serve infants, toddlers, children, and adults."
Critics argued the moves would do the opposite, scattering crucial programs across departments that lack the expertise and resources to fulfill the education offices' mandates, ultimately depriving children and their families of support.
“Moving IDEA out of the Department of Education is not an administrative adjustment—it is an attack on the educational and civil rights foundation of the law," said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. "It would drag us backward by treating disability as a medical issue instead of an educational right and by unraveling decades of progress. The Department of Education is the only federal agency with the expertise, infrastructure, and specialists needed to protect students’ rights and ensure they receive the services they are guaranteed."
"Relocating the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice as part of this scheme would further erode federal oversight and endanger disability-rights enforcement nationwide," Pringle added.
The Arc of the United States, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said that "moving special education to HHS and civil rights enforcement to DOJ would split apart the offices responsible for making disability rights real in schools, leaving families chasing answers across the federal government instead of getting accountability from one education agency."
"Moving IDEA oversight into HHS pushes students with disabilities toward a medical model, where disability is treated as a diagnosis to manage instead of a natural part of human life," said Katy Neas, the group's CEO. "When that mindset drives education decisions, students are more likely to be segregated, underestimated, or treated as separate from the school community."
"It’s an outrageous betrayal that undoes decades of hard-won progress for students."
The changes that McMahon announced Tuesday are part of the Trump administration's effort to completely dismantle the Education Department, which cannot be legally abolished without congressional approval. The Washington Post noted that the newly targeted offices were among the last Education Department segments to "outsource major functions," underscoring that the administration's assault "has advanced far more than most observers predicted would be possible."
In addition to displacing agency functions, the Trump administration has gutted the Education Department's staff, firing nearly half of its workers in what opponents say is an obvious effort to decimate public education.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the transfer of critical functions out of the Education Department is unlawful, "usurping the power of the purse while the Republican majority stands idly by, forfeiting their authority as a co-equal branch of government." DeLauro pointed to language in a 2026 appropriations measure enacted earlier this year that prohibits the Education Department from transferring responsibilities to other federal agencies without congressional approval.
“This is a disgraceful violation of the law," DeLauro said Tuesday. "By moving special education from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services, the administration is taking us back to a dark period in American history. One where individuals with disabilities were viewed not as whole persons deserving of an education, but as medical patients whose education is not a priority."
The top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, Patty Murray of Washington, warned that "the Trump administration is abandoning kids with disabilities and its most basic legal responsibility to protect the rights of every student in the classroom."
"Instead of helping kids get a great education, this administration is spending its time, energy, and taxpayer resources fixated on where employees sit and illegally trying to shutter the Department of Education," said Murray. "It’s an outrageous betrayal that undoes decades of hard-won progress for students."
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'Slash the Pentagon Act' Would Cap Trump's Military Budget to Fund Healthcare, Education, and More
"It’s time to put people before the Pentagon and make major cuts to Trump’s bloated and wasteful defense spending," said Sen. Ed Markey, who introduced the bill.
Jun 16, 2026
Democratic US Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts took aim Monday at President Donald Trump's illegal war of choice on Iran and request for a record $1.5 trillion in total military-related spending authorization by introducing legislation that would cap the Pentagon budget at half that amount.
Markey introduced the Slash the Pentagon Act at a Capitol Hill press conference that took place "as Americans struggle to pay for healthcare, rent, electricity, groceries, and gas, while Trump has spent over $100 billion on his expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary war with Iran."
“Instead of funding Medicaid and education or investing in veterans’ care, Republicans want to pad the pockets of gold-plated defense contractors with billions more dollars for weapons and wars we do not need,” Markey said at the press conference.
“Just before SpaceX’s IPO made Elon Musk a trillionaire, Trump gave SpaceX billions in contracts for his expensive and ineffective ‘Golden Dome’ system," Markey continued. "Coincidence? No, corruption."
"It’s time to put people before the Pentagon and make major cuts to Trump’s bloated and wasteful defense spending," the senator added. "We should invest in our hospitals, schools, affordable housing, and the real security American families need right now—not expensive wars and weapons that make us less safe.”
Markey's bill comes just days after the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 18-9 to advance the $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2027, and the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee approved the Fiscal Year 2027 Defense Appropriations Bill during a closed-door markup. The House bill provides $1.072 trillion for the Pentagon and other military-related activities, a $234 billion increase from this year’s enacted level.
The Trump administration’s broader national security proposal requests nearly $1.5 trillion in total defense-related spending for 2027, which includes $350 billion in supplemental funding for munitions production, shipbuilding, missile defense, drones, artificial intelligence, and other long-term military programs.
During his press conference, Markey highlighted "better ways to use a $750 billion cut from Trump’s $1.5 trillion military budget":
- Build high-speed rail across the nation, expand existing passenger rail service, and electrify the most heavily polluting railyards and corridors ($205 billion);
- Cancel 100% of Americans’ medical debt ($220 billion);
- Fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and feed hungry families nationwide over the next two years ($200 billion); and
- Provide children with Head Start and Early Head Start for the next decade ($125 billion).
Markey was flanked by supporters of his bill.
“For decades we’ve been told there is always enough money for weapons and war but never enough for the challenges our communities face day to day,” said Shayna Lewis, deputy director of Win Without War.
“Now, as families grapple with rising costs, President Trump is demanding an unthinkable $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget—all while brushing aside the concerns and struggles of the American people," Lewis added. "Thankfully, a growing coalition of lawmakers is listening, and gearing up to bring spending back into line with people’s needs.”
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