Senate Republicans derailed President-elect Donald Trump’s first stunning pick for Attorney General Matt Gaetz. But it is unclear whether they will be able to block other controversial nominees, despite skepticism from some rank-and-file Republicans.
In the weeks since Trump’s dramatic election victory, the power struggle between the president-elect and the independent-minded Republicans in the Senate has become clearly visible. Questions had been raised about whether the new Republican majority in the Senate would simply bow to Trump, the party’s most dominant figure, and set aside its constitutional duty of advice and consent.
Instead, a handful of Republican senators flexed their muscles and rejected Gaetz. Now their political resolve will be tested several more times as Trump’s frustration mounts and the MAGA base demands that Republicans rally behind Trump and get his team in place quickly.
Senators get a brief reprieve from questions about Trump’s nominees as they celebrate Thanksgiving. But when they return next week, the investigation will intensify and focus on a trio of Cabinet officials who are ringing alarm bells on Capitol Hill and beyond: Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence; Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense; and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
With the media spotlight on Gaetz, some Republican senators admitted that Trump’s other controversial picks will now be under the microscope. For example, Hegseth is facing questions about a 2017 incident in which a woman told police he took her phone and blocked her from leaving his hotel room before sexually assaulting her. Hegseth was not charged and has denied the allegations, while confirming that he had paid the accuser in a confidential settlement, but the issue came up during his meetings with members of the Armed Services Committee whose votes he will need.
“Well, it’s a pretty big problem, considering that we have … a sexual assault problem in our military,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who added that he supports the bipartisan legislation from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa supported. , and Kirsten Gillibrand, DY, to Prevent Sexual Assault in the Military.
“This is why you have background checks, this is why you have hearings, this is why you have to go through the investigation,” Cramer continued. “I’m not going to prejudge him, but yes, it’s a pretty worrying allegation.”
Political capital
Before Gaetz withdrew his name, Cramer had warned that Trump’s transition team risked spending too much “political capital” fighting for a doomed Cabinet pick before the party would even tackle its 2025 legislative agenda. The former Florida congressman had too much baggage, Cramer and others said — stemming from a yearslong ethics investigation into sexual misconduct and Gaetz’s successful campaign to topple GOP Chairman Kevin McCarthy last year — to win the 51 votes needed confirmed as the nation’s top law enforcement agency. official.
Republicans will control 53 seats in the new Senate, meaning they can afford only three GOP deviations in any vote to confirm a nominee or pass legislation, with Vice President J.D. Vance serving as the tie-breaking factor.
Rather than delay the fight for several more weeks, Gaetz dropped out of the fight Thursday, paving the way for Trump to appoint former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to head the Justice Department. The choice of Bondi was welcomed by Republicans, and she is expected to have a much easier path to confirmation.
How much political capital Trump is willing to burn on other choices with their own baggage is still an open question. Some Senate Republicans who voiced the strongest criticism of Gaetz said they could live with Hegseth despite the 2017 assault allegations.
‘He has not been charged. He wasn’t even charged in this. No crime was committed. The police dropped everything there. …” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a Trump ally and vocal Gaetz critic, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “And that doesn’t stop Pete from making progress on this.”
Possible red flags
Kennedy and Gabbard have their own past controversies that could become warning signs for senators. Kennedy, whom Trump selected as one of his top health officials, has made numerous false or misleading claims about vaccines, fluoride, raw milk and other issues that, if confirmed, would fall under his purview. As HHS secretary, Kennedy would oversee thirteen federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
When asked about RFK Jr.’s position on vaccines, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a member of the Senate Health Committee who will host Kennedy’s confirmation hearing, told reporters that “as a parent” she would continue to advocate for the “benefits of modern medicine.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a close Trump ally, said on Fox News on Sunday that he has done an “unofficial whip count” on RFK, adding that he has heard concerns but was confident the upcoming HHS nominee “confirmed quite easily.”
Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman who switched parties and supported Trump, has been scrutinized by Democrats — as well as some Republicans — for her positive comments about Russia and her meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017.
“I think she compromised… The Russian-controlled media called her a Russian asset,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a decorated Iraq war veteran and member of the armed forces, said on CNN on Sunday.
She added that she did not think Gabbard would pass an FBI background check.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., fired back on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” labeling Duckworth’s insults about Gabbard as “a slur.” “There is no evidence that she is an asset to any other country,” he said.
In a statement, Trump communications director Steven Cheung said: “President Trump is nominating highly qualified and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration.”
No vetting
FBI background checks are typically conducted on executive branch nominees and appointees. But the Trump team has yet to submit any of its picks for such vetting.
On Sunday, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., defended the move, saying Americans don’t care who leads the vetting process.
“I don’t think the American public cares who does the background checks. What the American public cares about is seeing the mandate they voted for fulfilled,” Hagerty, Trump’s former ambassador to Japan, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Democrats say FBI background checks could save Trump and his team a lot of hassle and embarrassment.
“He may still have decided to nominate Matt Gaetz, but if they had done a thorough vetting, maybe he would have decided not to,” Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ .
“That vetting process, which requires the FBI to review potential nominees, is intended not only to protect the public interest, but also to protect the interests of the president-elect, to ensure that he is not embarrassed by someone like Matt to nominate Gaetz.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
