Pete Hegseth is only the beginning of Trump’s confirmation headaches
Pete Hegseth is only the beginning of Trump’s confirmation headaches
Share:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel all have their hearings next week, Eric Garcia reports. The Senate is set for a late-night vote on Friday to confirm Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon. On Thursday, a metaphorical bomb dropped when Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine announced their opposition to Hegseth. For a second, the Senate’s Mod Squad seemed to be the only Republicans who would voice their objections to Hegseth.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters on Friday before the vote that he was not sure and that “we’re continuing to work on it.” That’s not the same as saying that they have a lock on votes. Even though only two Republicans defected when Senate Majority Leader John Thune invoked cloture there could still be additional holdouts.
A Hegseth failure would make him the second nominee to go down after Matt Gaetz did not even make it to his attorney general confirmation hearing and had to be switched out by former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi. Trump so far has had a difficult go at getting his nominees confirmed at the rate he would want. On inauguration day, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Marco Rubio, the former Florida senator, to be secretary of state. But that’s a low-ball given the old adage the Senate ends “partisan politics at the water's edge.”.
“I think Barack Obama had 12 done and we have two,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida told The Independent. “If the Democrats want to make their lives miserable by voting at two in the morning, they can do so, but I believe within 30 days, the entire cabinet will be confirmed,” Sen. Ted Cruz told The Independent.
