As controversy continues to cloud some of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, his team has an ominous warning for out-of-line Republicans. behind his candidates.
ABC News Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl reports that a senior Trump adviser’s message to lawmakers is: “If you’re on the wrong side of the vote, you’re buying yourself a primary.”
“That’s all,” the counselor told Karl. “And there’s a guy named Elon Musk who’s going to finance it.”
“The president gets to decide his cabinet. No one else,” added the consultant.
President-elect Donald Trump attends the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Threatened by Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth (appointed attorney general and defense secretary, respectively) He made the rounds on Capitol Hill to strengthen support this week. They escorted Vice President JD Vance, junior senator from Ohio.
Gaetz announced it was Thursday evening ignoring his nameHe stated that his confirmation bid was “becoming an unfair distraction.”
Gaetz has long denied allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, which were the subject of a federal investigation and an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Hegseth is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, in an encounter that police say was consensual.
Trump stood firm with the picks, which also raised eyebrows over his lack of experience running the Justice Department and the Defense Department. Trump said it was ultimately Gaetz’s withdrawal.
Other picks for the president-elect have faced scrutiny over their qualifications, among others Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As Secretary of Health and Human Services.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, closes the door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republicans, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 20, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Trump has already asked Republican leadership to back so-called “recess appointments” to bypass the traditional confirmation process. This route should be stopped by members of parliament and senators should refuse the “consultation and consent” that they fulfill in the nominations, as established in the Constitution.
But his request is being met with resistance from some Senate Republicans.
Sen. Thom Tillis, the top Republican and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said recess appointments to Cabinet positions should be “completely off the table.”
“And honestly, serious candidates for a Cabinet-level position, I would really have to ask if they would want or be willing to accept a break,” Tillis said. “These attitudes are too important. They have too much weight internationally to take a shortcut.”
Senator Thom Tillis appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill, November 20, 2024, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Several senators have said they want candidates to go through the “full process” and vetting.
Sen. Josh Hawley said Wednesday he plans to vote for all the nominees.
“The constitution gives us the task of the so-called advice and consent staff. I think that’s what’s going to come out here when those candidates are actually sent out, and we’re going to treat everyone else like we’ve treated them with due diligence.” said longtime Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who recently resigned.
