Republican Sen. Thom Tillis warned Sunday that pressure campaigns to push presidential-elect Donald Trump’s nominees through Congress “carry many risks,” including the possibility that it could backfire on its goal.
“If anything, they could create a systemic problem for future nominees if they overreach,” Tillis (RN.C.) said on “Fox News Sunday.”
More than a handful of Trump’s Cabinet picks have faced sharp skepticism about their character or qualifications or both, including Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services nominee and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The choice for Attorney General Matt Gaetz already had to make way.
Republicans will have 53 seats in the next Senate, enough to guarantee confirmation of appointments as long as Republicans stick together. Therefore, pressure campaigns are being mounted by both Republican lawmakers and outside organizations to get the nominees confirmed.
“A lot of these are third parties that make money from the fundraising campaigns to put some advertising in there, but double-digit percentages go into their pockets,” Tillis said. “Here’s what I would say to them: If they really support President Trump’s nominees, they should stand down and let the nominees win on their own merits, and I think most of them will do that.”
One such third party backing the nominees is Heritage Action, a conservative think tank that released an ad on Friday seeking to “ensure the Senate conducts a speedy confirmation process,” according to their social media post.
The North Carolina senator questioned the intent of such ads, but emphasized that he believed they were not “straight out of Mar-a-Lago.”
“It comes from groups, sometimes they exhibit good behavior and other times they are out there trying to make some change and get their name out there as an activist organization,” he said. “I don’t think we’re doing the president a good service by doing that.”
He added that nominees must be prepared to answer difficult or even “dishonest” questions, referring to Brett Kavanaugh’s 2018 confirmation hearing for his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Nothing is sacred: family, past experiences, personal experiences, high school yearbooks. The nominees must prepare and answer these questions at least to the satisfaction of the Republican members,” Tillis said.
