The Senate on Monday approved President Joe Biden’s nomination of Janet Yellen to be the nation’s 78th treasury secretary, making her the first woman to hold the job in the department’s 232-year history.

Yellen, a former chair of the Federal Reserve, was approved by the Senate on a 84-15 vote, becoming the third member of Biden’s Cabinet to win confirmation. The 15 votes against her all came from Republicans.

Retired four-star Army general Lloyd Austin became the first African American defense secretary on Friday, shattering a racial barrier for the United States armed forces and underscoring President Biden’s commitment to diversity within his Cabinet.

The Senate confirmed Austin, 67, as the president’s nominee in a 93-to-2 vote, giving the incoming Pentagon boss a near-unanimous bipartisan congressional mandate, as he sets about overseeing the 2.9 million service members and civilians across the world who fall under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Defense.

On Tuesday, at a hearing on her nomination for Director of National Intelligence befire the Senate Intelligence Committee, Avril Haines stated that president-elect Joe Biden wants his administration to view the Chinese Communist Party not as an adversary, but a “global competitor.”

The day before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, five of his cabinet nominees will answer questions from Senate panels handling their confirmations. The busy committee calendar is ramping up at the same time as an impeachment trial is expected to start, posing a split screen challenge for the Senate, which is still reeling from an attack less than two weeks ago.

While more attention will be paid to Wednesday's inauguration of Joe Biden, the real drama this week may come when Senate committees hold confirmation hearings for several of the president-elect's Cabinet picks.

Confirmation hearings are often marked by partisan differences, and this week is likely to be no different. In November, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who sits on the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees, expressed broad opposition to Biden's selections.

Five of President-elect Joe Biden's national security Cabinet nominees will face Senate panels on Tuesday in the first step of the confirmation process.

The day before Biden takes office, his nominees for secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, director of national intelligence, defense secretary and secretary of Homeland Security will appear before Senate committees to be considered for their respective roles.

Former President Barack Obama had six Cabinet members confirmed by the Senate before his Inauguration Day in 2009. President Trump had two. But when President-elect Joe Biden takes office next week, it's unclear whether he'll have any Cabinet members in place.

After he won the election, Biden rolled out his picks for top officials quickly. But between Trump's protracted political fight over election results and the future control of the Senate up in the air until the Jan. 5 Georgia runoffs, the Republican-controlled Senate was slow to schedule hearings for them.

President-elect Joe Biden has finalized selections for his incoming Cabinet and top White House positions. Cabinet positions — with the exception of the vice president and White House chief of staff — will require Senate approval, which may face significant delays.

Biden promised to be “a president for all Americans” and build a Cabinet that reflects the country’s diversity. If confirmed, his Cabinet will be more diverse than not only Trump’s Cabinet, but also Obama’s.

There was never really any question whether Pete Buttigieg would get some sort of job in Joe Biden’s administration — just where, exactly, he would be a good fit. For a while, the thinking was that the 38-year-old might make an exciting ambassador to the United Nations, but that never actually made much sense — Biden is determined to reassert American influence abroad using experienced diplomats — no matter how many languages Buttigieg speaks.

At least five of President-elect Joe Biden’s reported cabinet picks have expressed pro-gun control views in past statements, a Daily Caller News Foundation review has found.