Trump's team steps up push for Dems to back his nominees

• Turner is scheduled to meet with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the incoming ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, as well as every Republican on the panel, starting with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a person familiar with Turner's confirmation plan told Axios.

Zoom in: Turner's meeting with Warren will be among a very few that have occurred between a Senate Democrat and a Trump's Cabinet nominee. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) broke the ice last week by chatting with two of Trump's picks.

• Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard are among those facing particularly rigorous scrutiny from Senate Democrats. Others — including Turner — are less likely to face many hurdles.

What we're watching: Besides Warren and the Senate Banking Republicans, Turner is scheduled to meet with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) as part of a jam-packed schedule that includes meetings with 12 senators over four days.

• Turner — a former NFL player who ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump's first term — hopes that the closed-door meetings with Democrats will help build support for certain measures beyond the 53-47 GOP majority that reflects the Senate's partisan divide.

What they're saying: "As the ranking member, Senator Warren plans to meet with all the major nominees who will testify in the Banking Committee," a Warren spokesperson told Axios.

• "She will determine support based on each nominees' track records of standing up to special interests and fighting for an economy that works for working people."
• Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.), another member of Senate Banking, told Axios that he's "more than just open to meeting with these nominees. I expect to, and I expect to hear from them how they'll put the needs of working families before politics and partisanship."
• "The incoming HUD secretary has a big job to help unlock a much-needed decade of building to drive down costs and making the American Dream of affording a home within reach for everyone," Kim added.

The big picture: Warren, Kim and Fetterman are among the few Democrats who have expressed a willingness to meet with — and possibly support — some of Trump's nominees.

• Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said she'll support Sean Duffy's nomination for Transportation secretary after meeting with him last week, and Fetterman has said he'll back Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for ambassador to the UN.
• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Trump's pick for secretary of State, and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), the nominee for Labor secretary, have been praised by Trump critics and also are likely to get Democratic votes.

Between the lines: Axios has learned that Turner will focus on four major themes during his meetings with senators:

1. Working with states to ban urban camping and help get people off the streets through rehabilitation programs.
2. Ensuring undocumented immigrants — whom Trump has vowed to deport — are ineligible for public housing to help end sanctuary cities, and reinstate rules that prevent immigrants dependent on public benefits from receiving legal status.
3. Revitalizing rural and urban communities and encouraging private capital investment to create opportunities for upward mobility.
4. Overhauling homelessness policies and holding corrupt public housing agencies accountable.

Zoom out: The emerging focus on getting at least some Democratic support underscores how differently Trump's current batch of nominees is being received than his first-term picks.

• In 2017, 36 of the chamber's 52 Republicans supported every Trump Cabinet nominee, according to data compiled by the New York Times. David Shulkin — Trump's pick to lead the Veterans Administration — was confirmed 100-0.