WASHINGTON — The destiny of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cupboard continues to be unclear after Republican senators spent a lot of December fastidiously dodging questions on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’s views on vaccines, accusations of sexual misconduct towards Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard’s 2017 assembly with then-President Bashar Assad of Syria.
Whereas some GOP senators have indicated they’re all-in for Trump’s picks, others have withheld help, for now, particularly on a few of his extra controversial nominees. The dynamic is injecting uncertainty into the method as Republicans put together to take the Senate majority in January with a four-seat margin and as Trump aggressively challenges them to verify his Cupboard instantly.
It’s common for senators to attend till after affirmation hearings to publicly announce a call. However Republicans are beneath extra stress than standard as Trump and his allies clarify that they are going to confront senators who don’t fall in line.
“You solely have management of the Senate due to Donald Trump,” the president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr., warned throughout a media look this month. “With out that, you’d be relegated to insignificance.”
There was one casualty of the method to date — former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who withdrew from rivalry as lawyer normal after senators relayed non-public issues. However Trump has enthusiastically stood by the remainder, together with Kennedy for secretary of Well being and Human Providers, Hegseth for secretary of Protection and Gabbard for director of nationwide intelligence.
With hearings beginning by mid-January, earlier than Trump is even inaugurated, senators will quickly need to determine how intently they are going to scrutinize the nominees and whether or not they’re keen to vote towards any of them. Republicans may have a 53-47 majority, so Trump can’t lose greater than three votes on any nomination if Democrats are united in opposition.
The end result of the affirmation course of, and the extent of dissent within the Senate, will seemingly set the tone for Trump’s presidency and his relationship with Congress, which was ceaselessly tumultuous throughout his first time period. He usually clashed with the Senate, particularly, however has signaled he expects Republican senators to be extra compliant this time round.
“It’s not about placing yeses on the board, it’s about preserving nos off the board,” mentioned Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, certainly one of Trump’s high allies within the Senate, who speaks with him ceaselessly.
Whereas most Senate Republicans have scrambled to show as a lot loyalty to Trump as potential, a handful have made clear that they’re keen to defend the physique’s “advise and consent” function. Among the many senators to observe are average Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and incoming freshman Sen. John Curtis of Utah.
“Anyone who desires to present me warmth for doing my job, convey it on,” Curtis mentioned Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” when requested about vetting Trump’s nominees. “That is my job. It’s my constitutional duty.”
Nonetheless, even average senators have shied away from straight criticizing Trump’s picks. And never a single Republican has gone on the document towards a nominee.
A number of of Trump’s picks are anticipated to sail to affirmation, maybe even with some Democratic votes. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has indicated he’ll help Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of State and Rep. Elise Stefanik for United Nations ambassador, as have a number of different Democrats.
For the extra controversial nominees, although, social gathering unity will likely be key.
Considered one of Trump’s most embattled picks is Hegseth, a Fox Information host and veteran who some see as inexperienced and has publicly questioned whether or not girls ought to serve in fight. He has additionally confronted allegations of sexual assault and extreme ingesting that he has denied. Nevertheless it’s all given some senators pause, regardless of Trump’s enthusiastic help.
Hegseth has confronted explicit stress from Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, herself a fight veteran who has labored to deal with sexual assault within the navy. She has met with Hegseth a number of occasions, and has not but mentioned she is going to help him. She may have an opportunity to query him, publicly and face-to-face, in a Senate Armed Providers Committee affirmation listening to that’s scheduled for Jan. 14.
Although a listening to for Gabbard has not but been set, senators can even be capable of query her publicly and in a labeled setting about her journey to Syria after the U.S had severed diplomatic relations. Gabbard has defended the journey, saying it’s vital to open dialogue, however critics hear echoes of Russia-fueled speaking factors in her commentary. Assad fled to Moscow earlier this month after opposition forces overtook Syria in a shock assault, ending his household’s 5 a long time of rule.
Whereas Republican senators have principally kept away from publicly expressing issues about Gabbard’s ties overseas, almost 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and nationwide safety officers have urged Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to permit a full evaluate of the federal government’s recordsdata on her.
Senators have been a bit extra brazenly skeptical of Kennedy, who has lengthy questioned using some vaccines.
After a report within the New York Instances that certainly one of his advisers filed a petition to revoke approval for the polio vaccine in 2022, Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell issued an announcement saying that “efforts to undermine public confidence in confirmed cures will not be simply uninformed — they’re harmful,” and that “anybody looking for the Senate’s consent to serve within the incoming administration would do effectively to keep away from even the looks of affiliation with such efforts.”
McConnell, who had polio as a toddler, is leaving management subsequent 12 months however will keep within the Senate. His votes can even be intently watched after years of pressure with Trump as he assumes a brand new function free from the tasks of management.
Like McConnell, many senators have taken an “recommendation” strategy, telling the nominees what they should do to be confirmed.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis says he’s instructed the entire nominees he’s met with to date, “exit and see what the press is saying about you, discover your high 10 and disarm the dialog by having answer for why that isn’t you.”
As well as, Tillis mentioned, “you’ve received to have exhibiting in committee.”
