Here's a look at the schedule for some of the Senate hearings:
Wednesday
10 a.m. EST: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Department of Labor
The former Republican congresswoman from Oregon narrowly lost reelection last year but had received strong backing from union members in her district. Chavez-DeRemer would oversee the department's workforce and budget and put forth priorities that affect workers' wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employers' rights to fire employees, among other responsibilities. She's one of a few House Republicans to endorse the "Protecting the Right to Organize," or PRO, Act that would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and penalize companies that violate workers' rights. The act would also weaken "right-to-work" laws that are in place in more than half the states. She will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Thursday
10 a.m. EST Linda McMahon, Department of Education
Trump is preparing to gut the department, to the extent of his power, given that most of its spending — and its existence — is ordered by Congress. An executive order in preparation by the White House would direct his education chief to start winding down the agency but urge Congress to pass a measure abolishing it, according to people familiar with the plan. At a news conference this week, Trump quipped about the first task for McMahon: "I want Linda to put herself out of a job," Trump said. The billionaire professional wrestling mogul led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 in Trump's first term and twice ran unsuccessfully in Connecticut as a Republican candidate for the Senate. McMahon served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009. She has expressed support for charter schools and school choice. Most recently she was co-chair of Trump's transition operation, helping the president-elect fill key jobs in his second administration. She will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP