President-elect Donald TrumpPicks for top jobs in his administration were making the rounds on Capitol Hill Monday ahead of possible confirmation hearings next month.
Some choices come with controversy and face pointed questions from Republican senators.
The Pentagon’s Pete Hegseth has faced numerous allegations of misconduct and sexual impropriety, which he has denied. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of National Intelligence, has been scrutinized for her views on Russia and a 2017 meeting with Syria’s Bashar Assad. Kash Patel, a longtime Trump ally tapped to become FBI director, has vowed to take on the alleged “deep state” and Trump’s enemies.
Trump he defended his selections It was aired in its entirety Sunday during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Patel met with Senators John Cornyn, Joni Ernst, Mike Lee, Shelley Capito Moore and Chuck Grassley.
Cornyn, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said after the meeting that he tends to side with Patel and that some of his more extreme views — such as firing agents or closing the FBI headquarters in Washington — are “hyperbolic.”
“My position, as I told Mr. Patel, is that no one should have to go through what President Trump went through … a partisan Justice Department and FBI — and my goal would be to restore the nonpartisan operation of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency — the FBI. and the Department of Justice, to me, that’s the goal,” Cornyn said.
Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, attends a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn on Capitol Hill, December 9, 2024, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Hegseth returned for more impromptu meetings with GOP lawmakers four days in a row last week in an attempt to assuage concerns about financial mismanagement, sexual misconduct and public drunkenness.
Trump’s defense secretary met again with Ernst, the top Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and himself a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor.
Ernst significantly he was not ready to help For Hegseth after last Wednesday’s meeting. Over the weekend, Ernst said Hegseth needed to be vetted and wanted to hear him talk about how to deal with sexual assault in the military.
Hegseth left the meeting praising their conversation, but did not say whether he felt that Ernst was tipped to help him.
“He’s been working for a long time to make the Pentagon work for warfighters. We’ve had great, wide-ranging conversations about that. I appreciate his commitment to the process and look forward to working together,” Hegseth said.
When reporters asked him again if he could say whether he was able to protect Ernst, he said no. “I would never speak for him,” Hegseth said.
Ernst later released a statement thanking Hegseth for his “responsiveness and respect for the process.” While Ernst did not explicitly say he would vote yes on Hegseth’s confirmation, he said he would “help” through the process.
“After our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to conducting a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a top official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will prioritize sexual assault prevention. strengthen my work,” he said. “As I support Pete in this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on the truth, not anonymous sources.”
The conservative nonprofit group with ties to billionaire Elon Musk is diving into Hegseth’s confirmation battle. Building America’s Future is spending half a billion dollars on a new ad pushing the Senate to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News. The ad will air on national television and specifically target Ernst’s Iowa digital platforms.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, and his wife Jennifer Rauchet arrive for meetings on Capitol Hill, Dec. 9, 2024, in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Gabbard, a former Democratic congressman and military veteran with no intelligence experience, arrived for his first meetings on Monday. Gabbard’s they accused him of expressing support For US rivals like Russia.
He would meet with Senators Mike Rounds, James Lankford and Lindsey Graham.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, walks with Sen. Joni Ernst, Dec. 9, 2024, in Washington.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Linda McMahon, Trump’s education secretary, was also on Capitol Hill to meet with GOP Sen. Roger Marshall and other lawmakers.
McMahon told ABC News that he will “come on board” with Trump’s education policies if confirmed. However, he distanced himself from Trump’s comments about closing the Department of Education.
“President Trump and I have had many conversations, and I think he makes his views clear on his own,” McMahon said, adding, “I’m not going to advance his policy.”
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
