National
Perhaps the most consequential Cabinet nominee President Donald Trump (R-FL) has put forth has been confirmed.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (I-CA) was confirmed last Thursday to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
A lifelong environmental lawyer, Kennedy began his career in the 1980s as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. He later joined two nonprofits, Riverkeeper and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), both concerned with environmental protection. Notably, Kennedy’s membership of what many consider to be the most beloved Democratic political family in history makes him more of an anomaly. After effectively being shut out of the 2024 Democratic Primaries, Kennedy suspended his Democratic bid in October in search of an Independent candidacy. He obtained ballot access in nearly all fifty states before suspending his campaign to endorse Trump and join his team as a surrogate in the summer.
Kennedy was confirmed in a 52-48 vote in the Senate, with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) being the only Republican to oppose his confirmation.
On the same day, the Senate voted to confirm Brooke Rollins (R-TX) to lead Trump’s Agriculture Department. The vote, however, was not nearly as close as Kennedy’s, with Rollins securing the post after a 72-28 Senate vote. No Republicans opposed her secretaryship, but Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) opposed her.
But on Tuesday, the Senate confirmed another one of Trump’s more contentious picks in Howard Lutnick (R-NY) to lead the Commerce Department. The job belonged to Wilbur Ross (R-FL) in Trump’s first administration.
Lutnick is the former chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and the BGC Group, the former of which Lutnick succeeded founder Bernard Gerald Cantor in 1991. The financial services firm was founded in 1945, specializing in institutional equity, fixed-income sales and trading, investment banking, prime brokerage, and commercial real estate financing.
Lutnick was confirmed in a 51-45 party-line vote. Four Senators did not vote, two Democrats and two Republicans.
The latest flurry of confirmations bring the Cabinet nearly to full speed, as just two Cabinet positions remain with secretaries serving in acting states until Trump’s nominees are confirmed. Former Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) is up for Labor Secretary, while former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) co-founder Linda McMahon (R-CT) is up for Education Secretary. Both will need to have their nominations advanced by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. McMahon was interviewed by the committee last Thursday. Chavez DeRemer’s hearing was held on Wednesday.
In other federal news, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), even in an acting state, has uncovered what could be massive amounts of unprecedented fraud in one of the country’s chief social assistance programs.
Acting DOGE Secretary Elon Musk recently announced that 18.9 million Americans over the age of 100 are in the Social Security database, implying that the government could have been sending checks to beneficiaries who have long been gone, or that the government has been diverting such payments elsewhere.
With the number of American centenarians being about 90,000, a 2023 agency inspector general report found that “almost none” of the 18.9 million listed as 100 years or older were receiving payments. Moreover, others have pointed out that reporting and database errors have been common within the department, mostly owing to the fact that many beneficiaries passed long before electronic reporting methods were instituted.
However, the government has been found to issue payments to the deceased before, as recently as November 2021. An inspector general report then found that Social Security issued almost $300 million in posthumous payments to about 24,000 beneficiaries, with the agency only recovering approximately $84 million of those funds. The culprit in the 2021 report is claimed to have been poor policy guidance among Social Security technicians.
The U.S. Treasury announced on January 15, just five days before Trump’s inauguration, that more than $31 million in fraud among Social Security payments was detected. The Treasury prevented and recovered the funds due to “fraud and improper payments during a five-month pilot” with the SSA’s Full Death Master File, many of which went to deceased beneficiaries.
The SSA issues over $1 trillion in payments every year, with a July 2024 inspector general report finding that improper payments are a “long-standing challenge” with substantial overhauls required to fix the problem.
Finally, former 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH) had stepped down from his co-chair role in the nascent DOGE on January 20, teasing a potential run for the open Ohio governorship in 2026. On February 15, he filed the paperwork to run and is expected to make a formal announcement on February 24.
State
A high-ranking New York State official has called for New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) to resign.
Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado (D) not only set himself apart from others in a situation that has warranted reticence from statewide officials, but he also appears to have set himself apart from Governor Kathy Hochul (D) (pictured below).
“I speak for New Yorkers. That’s how I orient myself: as an independently elected individual,” said Delgado in Albany. “ I serve with the governor, but I don’t serve at the pleasure of the governor, right? I am my own person. I have my own voice.”
Mayor Adams was indicted in September over allegations of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, primarily from the Turkish government. He became the first NYC mayor in history to be charged with federal crimes while in office. Adams has maintained his innocence, alleging the charges were retaliatory for opposing the Joe Biden (D-DE) Administration’s handling of the migrant crisis. This was eerily predicted by then-candidate Donald Trump about a year before Adams’ indictment.
Hochul, meanwhile, has called the legal foray into Adams’ political dealings as “extremely concerning and serious,” but has fallen short of her plan on possibly deposing him.
However, a spokesperson for the governor remarked, “Lieutenant Governor Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”
This marks the first public disagreement between the two since Hochul selected then-Congressman Delgado to join the ticket as her running mate in 2022. Delgado was chosen to succeed her then-lieutenant Brian Benjamin (D), who resigned the seat in April 2022 on wire fraud and bribery charges, which were dropped last month.
The discord also makes for political punditry, as open disagreements between the governor and her number-two could damage the viability of Hochul’s re-election chances in 2026, a prospect that has been hampered by her eternally-languishing approval and favorability ratings, especially as Trump’s rating in the state recently reached its highest point ever – albeit still underwater.
“ He [Cuomo] was the governor, so I always saw it [lieutenant governor] as a supporting role,” said Bob Duffy, a four-year lieutenant under Governor Cuomo (D), of the relationship between the state’s top jobs. “Public disagreement or back and forth — I don’t think it’s a good look.”
However, of the overall clout of the lieutenant governor, Duffy says “nobody cares what the lieutenant governor thinks.”
Delgado said that his relationship with Hochul is “fine,” but added that he had not communicated with her on her intent to call for Adams’ resignation or to depose him outright.
The State Constitution allows the governor to remove municipal leaders from office on charges of “misconduct” or “malversation,” the latter term being of French origin effectively tantamount to “corruption.” However, the removal powers are vague, essentially giving Hochul carte blanche to Adams’ political future in the Big Apple.
While Hochul has been somewhat quiet on removing Adams herself, arguing the move would put New York City into uncharted legal waters, she has been meeting with top leaders in the city about the decision. Four of Adams’ top deputies resigned on MOnday night, which Hochul says “raises serious questions about the long-term future” of the Adams Administration. Reports indicate she’s planned on speaking with Al Sharpton, Congressman Gregory Meeks (D, NY-05), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D, NY-08), New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D) – the last with no relation to Mayor Adams.
Alternatively, voters can recall Adams. Speculation now swirls that Adams could abandon the Democratic line altogether and run as an Independent or even a Republican in this year’s mayoral race.
Conversations now coalesce around the Department of Justice’s prerogative in the situation. The department has directed the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to drop the investigation into Adams, with some alleging a quid pro quo situation wherein Adams would assist in the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal migrants in exchange for dropped charges.
Local
Minority Leader Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon) has announced a public listening session for the Suffolk County Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Task Force.
The task force is designed to “improve maternal outcomes and build understanding and trust in maternal healthcare,” asking for input from those impacted by “maternal morbidity/mortality, including stakeholders, medical professionals, medical and nursing students, Doula and Midwifery organizations, civic and faith-based organizations, and elected officials.
The listening session is set for Wednesday, March 12, at 6:30p.m. at the William H. Rogers Legislative Building – 725 Veterans Memorial Highway – in Hauppauge.
