The decision of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on this withdraw from consideration The attorney general election has focused Senate Republicans’ attention on the nominations of Pete Hegseth, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who are now once again facing an even harsher spotlight.
The trio of nominees bring their own extensive baggage and have been the subject of questions and concerns from different corners of the GOP Senate conferencebut had been shielded to a certain extent by the presence of Gaetz.
With the former Florida congressman out of the way, the focus shifts her way again.
“Your reprieve is over,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
Senate Republicans have called for President-elect Trump’s Cabinet members to be given seats, but even some of his most ardent supporters viewed Gaetz, a House agitator under investigation by the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee, as particularly problematic.
However, whether the withdrawal of Gaetz will lend a hand or hurt Gabbard, Hegseth and Kennedy remains a major uncertainty.
Some Senate Republicans believe Gaetz’s nomination and eventual retirement will benefit the other three.
“Maybe Donald Trump got what he wanted. “It wouldn’t be the first time that Donald Trump flew an experimental balloon,” Cramer told reporters about the Gaetz experience.
“It’s like Elon Musk flying a spaceship,” Cramer continued. “If the booster doesn’t come back properly, he throws it into the sea instead of into the sticks.”
In fact, hours after Gaetz’s announcement, Trump announced his next election Heading the Justice Department would be Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, who is likely to be seen as a far less controversial choice than Gaetz.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who is leaving the chamber at the end of the year to become governor of Indiana, said Gaetz’s nomination was “probably a challenge, and it didn’t surprise me that it ended the way it did here.” ” Today.”
But he said he doesn’t view Gabbard, Hegseth or Kennedy in the same way.
“I think Gaetz brought too extensive a portfolio for discussion. I don’t see that with the other three. … That’s largely because they’re unconventional, and I would say if anything would describe a Trump approach, it wouldn’t be conventional,” he added.
Despite their character as “troublemakers,” as senators generally view them, the other candidates have their own pitfalls.
Hegseth, Trump’s decision to lead the Pentagon may be the biggest question mark after he was accused of sexual assault in 2017. He told reporters: “The matter has been fully investigated and I have been fully cleared and I will leave it at that.”
“I’m eager to learn more about this,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) when asked about the allegations. “I think all of these nominees are entitled to a fair hearing, which means something different than just in the media, and the president deserves to have his team in place.” But under the Constitution, our job is to advise to give and consent.”
“I think this helps the president properly vet his team so there are no surprises later,” he continued. “Claims are obviously not evidence.”
Hegseth, a former National Guard officer and former Fox News host, also expressed concerns about his ability to lead an agency as gigantic as the Defense Department.
Meanwhile, Gabbard, Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, and Kennedy, nominated to lead the Health and Human Services Department, have expressed policy views that are clearly at odds with Senate Republicans.
Gabbard, a former House Democrat who left the party in 2022, caused a stir with previous comments about the war in Ukraine that appeared to echo Russian state media talking points. That stunned national security experts and gave defense activists and Ukraine advocates considerable pause in the Senate.
Kennedy, the former independent presidential candidate, was a vaccine skeptic and supported abortion rights.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told The New York Times last week that she found some of Kennedy’s past comments “alarming.”
Gaetz’s decision Thursday to resign caught the Senators by surprise just before they left for Thanksgiving break.
However, they weren’t entirely surprised that he didn’t make it into the novel year after the former congressman met with a number of Senate Republican members a day earlier as part of a charm offensive – a move that apparently made no difference.
Cramer told reporters that he wouldn’t have voted for him if the worst came to the worst. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) also indicated he would not have voted for Gaetz. There is bad blood between the two that dates back to Gaetz, who led the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from office.
But members are calling on the rest of his Cabinet’s decisions to avoid the pitfalls that ultimately befell Gaetz.
“Come here and run the gauntlet. You have to sell yourself. … You have to prove yourself,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a top Trump ally.
“Be yourself. Don’t come here trying to be someone you’re not,” Tuberville continued. “[Gaetz] I did that – and it probably didn’t work.”
