WASHINGTON — The fate of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet remains unclear after Republican senators carefully avoided it for much of December. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opinions about vaccines, allegations of sexual misconduct against Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard’s 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
While some GOP senators have expressed support for Trump’s picks, others have withheld support for now, especially for his most controversial nominees. The dynamic is introducing uncertainty into the process, with Republicans poised to take over the Senate majority in January by a four-seat margin and as Trump. aggressively challenged to confirm his Cabinet immediately.
It’s not uncommon for senators to wait until after confirmation hearings to publicly announce their decision. But Republicans are under more pressure than usual as Trump and his allies make it clear they will stand up to senators who don’t fall into line.
“You only have control of the Senate because of Donald Trump,” the president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr., warned in a media appearance this month. “Without it, you would be reduced to insignificance.”
So far there has been one victim of the process — the former representative. Matt Gaetz from Floridawho stepped down from the case as attorney general after senators raised private concerns. But Trump has stood by the rest, including Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy, Defense Secretary Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Gabbard.
With hearings set to begin in mid-January, even before Trump’s inauguration, senators will soon have to decide how closely they will scrutinize the nominees and whether they are prepared to vote against one of them. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority, so Trump cannot lose more than three votes on any nomination if Democrats join in opposition.
The outcome of the confirmation process and the level of dissent in the Senate will set the tone for Trump’s presidency and his relationship with Congress, which was often tumultuous during his first term. He has clashed with the Senate many times in particular, but he said he expects Republican senators to do more this time.
“It’s not about putting the yeses on the table, it’s about keeping the nos off the table,” said Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, one of Trump’s top allies in the Senate, who speaks with him frequently.
While most Senate Republicans have tried to show as much loyalty to Trump as possible, a few have made it clear that they are willing to defend the body’s “advisory and consensus” role. Senators to watch include moderate Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and freshman Sen. John Curtis of Utah.
“Anyone who wants to give me heat for doing my job, take it,” Curtis said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” when asked about vetting Trump’s nominees. “This is my job. It is my constitutional responsibility.”
However, even moderate senators have been reluctant to directly criticize Trump’s picks. And not a single Republican has run against a candidate.
Several of Trump’s picks are expected to go on to be confirmed, perhaps even with some Democratic votes. Sen. John Fetterman, D-P., has indicated that he will support the Florida senator. Marco Rubio For the secretary of state and deputy. Elise Stefanik For the ambassador to the United Nations, like a few other Democrats.
For the most controversial candidates, however, party unity will be the key.
One of Trump’s toughest picks is Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran who some say is inexperienced and has publicly questioned whether women should serve in combat. He has also been accused of sexual assault and excessive drinking, which he has denied. But everything has been given a break for some senators, despite Trump’s enthusiastic support.
Hegseth has put special pressure on Iowa His Joni Ernsta combat veteran himself who has worked to combat sexual assault in the military. He’s met with Hegseth several times, and he still hasn’t said he’ll side with him. He will have the chance to be questioned, in public and face to face, at a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing scheduled for January 14.
Although Gabbard’s case has not yet been decided, senators will also be able to question her publicly and in a classified area about her trip to Syria after the US severed diplomatic ties. Gabbard has defended the trip, saying it’s important to open the dialogue, but critics hear echoes of Russian-backed talk in her comment. Asad ran away He moved to Moscow earlier this month after opposition forces overran Syria in a surprise attack, ending his family’s five-decade rule.
While Republican senators have largely declined to publicly voice concerns about Gabbard’s foreign ties, nearly 100 former senior US diplomats and intelligence and national security officials He asked Senate leaders to hold closed-door hearings to allow the government to fully review the files on him.
Senators have been more skeptical of Kennedy, who has long questioned the use of some vaccines.
One of his advisers after a New York Times report filed a petition to withdraw the approval of the polio vaccine In 2022, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement saying that “efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not only uninformed, they are dangerous,” and that “anyone seeking Senate approval would do well in the incoming administration to even appear to associate with such efforts.” to get away.”
McConnell, he had polio in childhoodhe will leave the leadership next year, but will remain in the Senate. They will also take good care of his vows afterwards years of tension with Trump as he takes on a new role that is free from the responsibilities of leadership.
Like McConnell, many senators have taken an “advisory” approach, telling candidates what to do to get confirmed.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis says he’s told every candidate he’s met so far: “Come in and see what the press is saying about you, find your top 10s and disarm that conversation by having a good solution.” t you.”
In addition, Tillis said, “you have to be good at the board.”
