Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

Shortly after 12PM ET tomorrow, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in, marking the official beginning of the Biden-Harris administration. But before that - multiple confirmations for Biden's admin are afoot today.
@CourthouseNews

Confirmation hearings on deck today include Janet Yellen for Secy of Treasury, Avril Haines for director of nat'l intelligence over at ODNI, Alejandro Mayorkas for DHS Secy, Anthony Blinken for Secy of State and Lloyd Austin for Secy of Defense.
@CourthouseNews

I will pop around from confirmation hearing to confirmation hearing today and post updates where I can in this thread.

Underway right now, the Senate Finance Committee hears from Biden's nom to serve as Secy of Treasury: Janet Yellen.
The former chair of the Fed Reserve has, for some time now, advocated for big, bold plans to address the economic downturn in US in light of the covid pandemic.

She supports Biden's $1.9T proposal. Background on that plan here: courthousenews.com/biden-readies-…

She also wants to take a tougher position against China (She cites today the nation's IP theft, issues around forced technology transfers and the "poor labor/enviro standards" there)

@CourthouseNews

"Maintaining confidence in the long-term strength of the US economy and stability of US financial system is good for America as well as trading and investor partners," Yellen says.

"I believe in market-determined exchange rates. The value of the US dollar should be determined by markets," Yellen continues.
"The US does not seek a weaker currency to gain competitive advantage & we should oppose attempts by other countries to do so."

"The potential targeting of exchange rates to gain an advantage is unacceptable," Yellen adds. And notes that she will strongly oppose any and all attempts by foreign nations to artificially manipulate currency values to gain an unfair advantage in trade.
@CourthouseNews

You can catch Yellen's hearing here courtesy of the Senate Finance Committee: finance.senate.gov

At Yellen's hearing, Sen. Cantwell, D-WA, brings up the Trump "trade war" noting US companies lost $1.7T due to US tariffs. She's interested in shifting away from the Trump style of negotiations, ultimately, asking Yellen if she repudiates "unilateral protectionism"

Yellen: "I believe we should try to address unfair trade practices and the best way to do that is to work with our allies rather than unilaterally."

She then underlines:

"When the unfair practices have to do with things like stealing IP or forced tech transfers, subsidies that provide unfair tech advantage, we should focus directly on those practices and work with allies to make sure they are addressed."

Another link to the stream: c-span.org/video/?507951-…

Yellen says she is concerned about impact of covid economic downturn on minorities, and she has already met with racial justice and equity groups. "I promise you that I will be fully focused on putting into place, at every level, relief for these communities."

One example Yellen provides is the state small biz credit initiative contained in Biden's proposed $1.9T relief package.
"There's money there to capitalize lending to small businesses and a proposal to provide grants to loans for small entrepreneurs," she says.

The Biden plan proposes $15B in grants for urgent relief to small businesses hardest hit by the pandemic + $35 to small biz lending.
A note: this would come in addition to the existing PPP program

She also vows to push hard programs related to food security, evictions, unemployment insurance and relief these households need (paid leave, min. wage).

Sen. Tim Scott during his line of q's to Yellen today offers criticism of the Biden proposal to raise min wage to $15/hour, saying it would be a drag on businesses and hurt the economy when it is already strapped by the pandemic.

Yellen first notes that much of what is known on raising the min wage is based on info from researchers looking at what happens when one state raises its min wage and another state leaves it alone. They review how biz fares in 2 diff places, often far from each other.

The former chair of the Federal Reserve continues: "The findings are that the job loss is very minimal if anything. The likely impact on jobs is minimal, that's my reading in research."

The wisdom is split on this + typically hyper-partisan.

In terms of Congressional Budget Office data, in '19, it found if wages phased up to $15/hr, it could cause two things to happen: On avg: About 1.3M ppl lifted out of poverty while another 1.3M jobs could be lost...but...

It also was a pretty big range CBO based its findings on and this was the median estimate.
Their report from 2019 here: cbo.gov/system/files/2…

Yellen agreed with Sen. Scott that small biz is struggling and it is critical to help them, though.
"I appreciate the PPP package in the recently passed bill and pledge we'll do everything we possibly can to get that money out to struggling businesses."

In a city crawling w/heavy security ahead of the inauguration, a lengthy day of confirmation hearings features Biden’s picks for top spy chief, treasury secy, and heads of the nation’s homeland security agency & Defense Dept.
Developing:
courthousenews.com/bidens-incomin…
w/@JackRodgersCNS

Over at the Avril Haines confirmation hearing (nom for dir. nat'I intel) there was a noteworthy exchange w/Sen. Wyden, D-Ore., re: existing law requiring DNI submit an unclassified report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Wyden: If you are confirmed, will you submit to Congress the unclassified report required by the law?”

“Yes senator, absolutely, I will follow the law,” Haines promised today.

Link to a stream of that Q&A with Wyden here:

Earlier today at the confirmation hearing for Alejandro Mayorkas, nominated by Biden to serve as head of the Department of Homeland Security, he fielded Q's from Sen. Gary Peters on the Trump admin's failure to address, let alone curb, rising white supremacy in the U.S.

Peters noted how threats from white supremacists played out in a variety of places including Black churches, as well as mosques and synagogues in the past few years.
Mayorkas didn't hesitate to offer his commitment, calling these threats one of the greatest challenges DHS faces

The DHS has "unique capabilities" to contend with the threat of domestic extremism, Mayorkas says and he belabors the point that he is playing an apolitical, nonpartisan role as secy

Sen. Peters also secured a promise from Mayorkas this afternoon to consult with Arab American communities and others disproportionately profiled/targeted by terrorism laws/programs in the US as DHS undertakes more domestic terror probes and the like.

Mayorkas vows to prioritize threats from anti government white supremacist conspiracy-oriented violent extremist groups; noting when he was US atty in Central District of CA he stood up its civil rights section for the 1st time w/focus on prosecution of hate crimes

Meanwhile, just ahead of the hearing for Biden's pick for Secy of Defense, Lloyd Austin (at 3PM ET)- House Dem leadership announces it will schedule a vote on Austin's waiver for this Thursday.
@CourthouseNews

Both bodies have to agree to a waiver, which is why the House is involved here, for those who are wondering.

I'll live-tweet more of Austin's confirmation hearing than I did others today since now, I don't have multiple fires burning at one time. (As it were!)

And here is a link to the stream: c-span.org/video/?507826-…

In his opening remarks, Gen. Lloyd Austin says if confirmed as secy of DoD he will quickly review the DoD's role in vaccine distribution and ensure that the dept is doing everything it can to make this process as effective as it can be.
@CourthouseNews

Gen. Austin says he will rid the ranks at DoD of racists and extremists and create a climate where everyone fit and willing has an opportunity to serve this country with dignity.

He is willing to confront enemies both inside and outside of the ranks, Austin adds. "Policy must match the will of the American people."

Gen. Austin, Biden's pick for head of DoD: "While I did not seek this job, I consider it an honor." If confirmed, he adds, he will carry out the mission of defense with the goal to deter war and ensure the nation's security.

UPDATING:
courthousenews.com/bidens-incomin…

Austin says once he has had a chance to review US force levels, he'll get back to Congress with his opinion on whether draw downs are appropriate are not; he also wants to review nuclear arms control agreements and foreign nuclear arsenals

Sen. Gillibrand, D-NY, brings up the issue of sexual assault in the military. Every secy of defense from last 25 years says there is zero tolerance, she notes, but every time they say there's zero tolerance, the facts/evidence on assaults, trials, convictions show no progress

Gen. Austin reflects for a moment, pausing, and says, I take the issue of sexual assault seriously and personally.
He's grateful for efforts put into it but he acknowledges "We have not gotten better and we have to get better. And we will get better."

"We have to go after the culture, the climate. It's a leadership issue, it's a readiness issue. It starts from the top and we have to work from the bottom as well," Gen. Austin says re: sexual assault in the military

Austin on sexual assault in military: We have to look at this holistically.
Biden admin is standing up a commission in 90 days to review "from soup to nuts."
"But I won't wait 90 days to get after this. This starts with me and you can count on me getting after this on Day 1."

Gen. Austin promises to establish a good relationship with the media and provide more transparent access to DoD.
(Noted!)

Sen. Tom Cotton says he will not agree to a waiver for Austin because there wasn't a sufficient cooling off period between his time as an active general to civilian. Notably, he did agree to a waiver for Mattis.

Cotton says he should not have agreed to the waiver for Mattis.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal,D-CT, asks Austin for an "intensive investigation" on how to counter the threat of white supremacy in the U.S.

Austin: "I think this is critical, I would share a story with you from my past when I was a lieutenant colonel working in one of the finest organizations in the Army, the 82nd airborne. We awoke one day and discovered we had extremist elements in our ranks..."

Austin, who could become first Black secy of DoD, continues on exp. w/white supremacists in military: "They did bad things. We held them accountable. But we discovered the signs for that activity were there all along, we just didn't know what to look for or pay attention to...

"But we learned from that. It's important to our military to keep a handle on, to understand their troops, to know their troops. We can never take our hand off the wheel on this. This has no place in the military for the United States of America," retired gen. Austin said

Earlier tweet deleted for clarity.