The 119th Congress is around the corner and confirmation battles featuring President-elect Trump’s slate of nominees are set to take center stage.
Since Trump’s rapid rollout of choices, two nominees — former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general and Chad Chronister to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency — have already withdrawn themselves.
But a number of his remaining picks are controversial, and Republicans are hoping to avoid further errors as the nominees barnstorm Capitol Hill and move closer to their confirmation hearings and potentially hitting the Senate floor.
Here are the top five confirmation battles to watch.
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard is staring down perhaps the toughest confirmation battle of anyone put forward by the president-elect.
Gabbard, a former four-term Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii, has faced skepticism from segments of the Senate GOP conference for numerous reasons. Chief among them were her past remarks about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that appeared to echo talking points from Moscow, a 2017 meeting with now-exiled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and her lengthy tenure as a Democrat.
Adding to the issues is that she failed to impress multiple Senate Republicans during meetings on Capitol Hill in December, with at least a handful of them prepared to vote no on the floor — if her nomination gets that far.
“She’s the most at risk of not being confirmed,” one Senate GOP aide told The Hill.
“There are things that will never change with her,” the aide continued, pointing specifically to the Syria and Russia issues. “She has policy views that are totally contrary to where the majority of the conference is.”
Trump allies have maintained she will emerge from her confirmation hearings in solid shape to win a green light from the upper chamber.
“I haven’t heard any of that,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said about a report indicating that as many as eight Senate GOP members are ready to vote against her. “There’s not one single ‘no’ that is on any of these [nominations] that have said ‘no’ from the Republican Party.”
“There’s a lot saying they want to talk to her, but that’s part of advice and consent,” Mullin added.
Pete Hegseth
It was only a few weeks ago that Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon appeared done and dusted, with Trump preparing fallback options.
While his fortunes appear to have shifted, the toughest step could be yet to come in Hegseth’s question to be Defense secretary. His confirmation hearings are around the corner, and the same issues that gave him trouble in December are certain to resurface in a very public setting.
The former Fox News host faced questions surrounding a 2017 allegation of sexual assault, his handling of veterans organizations that he led and his own drinking — as well as whether his background qualified him to run the massive operation that is the Defense Department. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing.
But, backed by support from Trump allies and, eventually, Trump himself, Hegseth has appeared to win over key Senate Republicans. He held multiple meetings with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), an Armed Services Committee member and the Senate’s first female combat veteran, who has since warmed to him.
“The middle of last week, it felt like there was growing momentum against him. I think that has changed markedly,” Sen. Ted Cruz. (R-Texas) said on Dec. 11. “The momentum has shifted considerably in Pete’s direction. I think Pete’s going to get confirmed.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Gabbard and Hegseth — along with Gaetz’s short-lived selection — had taken up much of the oxygen in December.
But that could change as confirmation hearings for other controversial nominees kick off in short order, with Kennedy atop that list.
The ex-independent presidential candidate, tapped to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has long been a polarizing figure due to his views on vaccines.
He remains in solid shape heading into the new year as there has been little criticism of him from Republicans, who control his fate. But landmines remain.
Kennedy has said little to reporters coming in and out of meetings with senators, but made a point to tell them ahead of his first meeting on Dec. 15 that he is fully supportive of the polio vaccine.
That came only days after a report emerged that Aaron Siri, a Kennedy ally, petitioned the government to reconsider its green light of the polio vaccine in 2022.
In between the report coming to light and Kennedy’s comments, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who battled polio as a child, issued a missive urging all of Trump’s nominees to “steer clear” of skeptical chatter about the polio vaccine.
“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell said in a statement. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”
Kash Patel
Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist tapped to lead the FBI, has made his sharp opposition to the bureau known.
He has created a list of who he dubs “government gangsters” — headlined by outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland — who he says “must be held accountable and exposed in 2024.”
He has also declared that he wants to shutter the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state.”
It is possible that few — if any — Trump nominees have attracted more vocal opposition from Democrats.
However, none of this has dissuaded Senate Republicans as they talk up Patel’s background working for the House Intelligence Committee and as a federal prosecutor. Patel has also done himself favors by impressing members during meetings on the hill in recent weeks.
“He’s done well in his meetings,” the Senate GOP aide said. “Very well prepared, emphasizing that he’s looking to end bad practices — not replicate them. He’s charismatic and knows his stuff.”
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) occupies a very exclusive spot on this list as it is quite possible that she loses more Republican votes than most of the aforementioned nominees — yet could end up with bipartisan support as multiple Democrats have signaled they are open to backing her confirmation.
Chavez-DeRemer lost her bid for reelection in a toss-up seat, but was tapped shortly after to become Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Labor.
However, her selection initially came under fire over her support of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a priority of Democrats and top labor groups. In fact, she was one of only three House Republicans to co-sponsor the bill, boosting Democratic optimism in the process.
“And as an original author of the PRO Act, I’m glad to see Representative Chavez-DeRemer is a cosponsor of the bill I wrote with Representative Scott,” Sen. Patty Murray (R-Wash.) said when DeRemer was selected.
But for now, Republicans are holding their fire and are giving Trump deference for the selection. Mullin was the first Senate Republican to meet with her and likened her comments to him about the PRO Act to those of Kennedy about abortion (he is pro-choice).
“That she’s serving at the will of the president of the United States, and that she’ll be pushing forth his agenda,” Mullin said. “She’ll be confirmed, too.”
