Republican senators are in for a chaotic stint upon their return from the August recess next week after a series of high-profile firings by President Donald Trump that will require a congressional response.
Several hearings and confirmations are on the horizon in the upper chamber after the dramatic removal of a trio of Senate-confirmed officials, which enraged Democrats and concerned some Republicans.
The administration’s most recent shakeup came on Wednesday with the ouster of former CDC Director Susan Monarez, which was preceded by the firings of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook.
Cook has mounted a lawsuit challenging her firing, a legal avenue that McEntarfer and Monarez may also pursue.
“The president has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday.
While the media has focused on Trump, he’ll soon share the spotlight of scrutiny with the GOP-led Senate, which will be tasked with reviewing and confirming new nominees.
Confirmation hearings for Stephen Miran and E.J. Antoni, the new Fed and BLS nominees, respectively, are slated for next month in the committees of jurisdiction. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose agency oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will testify before a Senate panel next week.
The White House wants Miran, currently a Trump economic adviser, in place at the Fed by the central bank’s next interest rate meeting, which starts Sept. 16. This is an ambitious timeline that would likely require Miran to clear the Senate Banking Committee by next week to guarantee his participation on the independent board. White House officials hope his membership would help sway an interest rate cut. Miran’s confirmation hearing is set for Sept. 4.
Cook was also fired this week over allegations from another administration official of mortgage fraud, a claim she has vehemently denied. Cook has mounted a legal challenge to remain in her post and said Trump lacks the authority to oust her over an unsubstantiated accusation.
Antoni, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, will have a confirmation hearing pending completed paperwork, according to a spokesperson for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. A date has not yet been set.
Ordinarily, BLS nominees do not have to undergo a hearing. However, the panel is led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who was supportive of McEntarfer’s ousting and previously criticized the Labor Department’s employment revisions with the Biden nominee at the helm. McEntarfer was fired early this month after a monthly jobs report included revisions to prior months that showed hiring was far weaker than previously anticipated, prompting accusations from Trump critics of political motivations by the president.
Kennedy will be in the hot seat Sept. 4 to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on “the president’s 2026 health care agenda.” The committee’s announcement came less than 24 hours after Monarez’s departure, which caused several CDC resignations under her. The hearing was scheduled before the staff shake-up, according to a committee spokesperson.
Still, Kennedy will undoubtedly be peppered with questions about Monarez’s high-profile removal over a clash between the two on vaccine policy. Cassidy, a committee member who had initial reservations about confirming Kennedy over his past vaccine skepticism but ultimately supported him, said the departures “require oversight.”
Cassidy also called on HHS’s vaccine advisory panel to “indefinitely postpone” its scheduled Sept. 18 meeting “until significant oversight has been conducted” into allegations from the resigned CDC officials of the public health agency’s vaccine agenda under Kennedy’s leadership.
“If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership,” Cassidy said in a statement.
RFK JR. TO TESTIFY BEFORE SENATE IN WAKE OF OUSTING CDC DIRECTOR
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the top Democrat on the committee, called for a bipartisan congressional investigation into Monarez’s firing.
“We need leaders at the CDC and HHS who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation,” Sanders said in a statement.
David Sivak contributed to this report.