White House Agenda Stalls as Cabinet Confirmations Trickle Through

At 10:30 Thursday morning, Jeff Sessions will officially be sworn in as attorney general of the United States. On a near party-line vote, 52 to 47, the Senate confirmed one of its own Wednesday night for the job of the nation's top law enforcement officer. Sessions was one of Donald Trump's earliest and most ardent supporters from Congress during the election, and now he'll be in one of the most important Cabinet positions in the new administration.

The task of confirming Cabinet positions continues, much more slowly than the White House and Senate Republicans would like. Votes on Tom Price for Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin for the Treasury are also on the Senate's schedule this week.

The glacial pace for confirming these nominees is a big reason the president's legislative agenda is currently stalled. But Vice President Mike Pence continues to work as the administration's chief liaison to Capitol Hill on crafting and planning that agenda—he met Tuesday with the Senate Republican conference and had a one-on-one lunch with House speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday. Pence, White House aides say, remains a critical part of Trump's inner circle—someone the president relies on for institutional knowledge of government and Washington.

A Visit to the Future Site of the Wall

The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday night that Secretary John Kelly will travel to the border at the end of this week "to meet with Department of Homeland Security employees and state and local officials, tour security operations, and discuss the administration's efforts to improve security along the border." Kelly will meet with Arizona governor Doug Ducey at the border patrol station in Nogales on Thursday, and on Friday will visit with law enforcement officials at the port of entry at San Ysidro near San Diego, California.

DeVos Calms Down Her Department

My colleague Alice Lloyd has a great report from the Education Department on the first day with its new leader, Secretary Besty DeVos. Here's an excerpt: