The fate of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is still unclear after Republican senators spent much of December carefully dodging questions.

There are roughly 1,200 positions in the federal government that require Senate confirmation. The first cabinet official was confirmed in 1789 when the Senate unanimously approved President George Washington’s nomination of Alexander Hamilton to be treasury secretary.

Japan’s cabinet approved a new $55.13 billion defense budget on Friday, marking the 13th consecutive year that Tokyo has increased defensing spending. The approval of the draft Fiscal Year 2025 budget of 8.

Japan’s cabinet approved a record ¥115.5 trillion ($732 billion) budget for the fiscal year starting April 2025, setting up the minority government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a key test of its longevity in getting the proposal approved by parliament.

By Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's cabinet on Friday approved a record $730 billion budget for the next fiscal year, while limiting new bond issuance to the lowest in 17 years on the back of record tax revenue.