Today is another critical day for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department. Hegseth is meeting with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the leading GOP centrists who has expressed alarm about the sexual assault allegations levied against Hegseth.
Hegseth, who has denied the allegations, is also meeting with Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) today.
Another leading Hegseth skeptic, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), met with the nominee on Tuesday. Both were tight-lipped following the meeting, which Murkowski described as “a good exchange.”
Here’s where things stand apart from Hegseth:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will meet with fellow New Yorker Howard Lutnick, who’s Trump’s choice to helm the Commerce Department. Schumer met with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday and praised the secretary of state nominee.
Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary nominee, will meet today with Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Cassidy.
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Trump’s national intelligence director nominee, will meet with incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho), as well as Rubio, the current ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) will meet with Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Also: The team leading the nomination process for all nominees: James Braid, Trump’s incoming Hill liaison; Joyce Meyer, a former aide to Speaker Paul Ryan who is now at ACLI; Drew Maloney, the CEO of the American Investment Council; Eric Ueland, a longtime Hill aide who is a public adviser for Paragon Health Institute; Jason Miller, a longtime Trump aide; and Brian Hughes, who worked on Trump’s campaign.
