Republican senators face a test in navigating some of Trump's unorthodox Cabinet picks
Republicans avoided a confirmation firestorm when former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as attorney general, but lawmakers are already bracing for how they’ll navigate the confirmation process for the next slew of unorthodox picks by President-elect Donald Trump.
Some of Trump’s Cabinet selections, including Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, and Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for director of national intelligence, could force Republicans to choose between their allegiance to Trump and their growing concerns that some of his nominees might not be up for the job — or possible to confirm in a narrowly controlled Senate.
Hegseth on Thursday huddled with a handful of Republican senators, many of them seen as close allies of Trump, for a series of meetings. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee called it “a great meeting,” while Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma called Hegseth “very qualified to do the job.”
Earlier on the morning of those meetings, new details emerged about a police report from 2017 in which a woman alleged that Hegseth blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” CNN reported. Police declined to press charges, and Hegseth has maintained the encounter was consensual.
But while some members of the party signal support for the nomination, other Republicans on the Hill warn there are mounting concerns about Hegseth. Although many senators have known Hegseth, a Fox News host and military veteran, for years, the process of vetting him to lead the Pentagon will force them to examine him and his views in a new light.
No comments: