The past week brought a barrage of negative stories about some of President-elect Donald Trump’s most important Cabinet picks, especially Pete Hegseth, who has been tapped to run the Pentagon.
Yet Senate Republicans, fearful of alienating Trump, aren’t looking to derail these nominations — like they did to former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
Hegseth, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and U.N. ambassador nominee Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), made the rounds on Capitol Hill on Monday. Reporters shouted questions at Hegseth about his alcohol use and alleged sexual misconduct. Republican senators faced a barrage of questions about Kash Patel, Trump’s hugely controversial pick to lead the FBI, and what it means for the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
But despite all the outside buzz, even moderate Republicans are showing a willingness to support these nominations — or at least entertain them. And unlike Gaetz, who Senate Republicans knew and disliked, there’s no sign yet of a brewing effort to kill these nominations behind the scenes.
Between concerns about angering Trump and what that could mean for their new majority, GOP senators are treading very carefully.
“I’m going to be meeting with [Hegseth] tomorrow, so I’m sure I’ll be asking him questions along those lines,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told us Monday night when asked about Hegseth’s mother calling him an “abuser” in an email. “So we’ll see how I feel after that.”
Hegseth also has meetings scheduled today with Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), among others.
For Hegseth and Patel, shoring up GOP support is critical because the expectation is that they won’t have any Democratic support. This means they can’t lose more than three Republicans. So far, the initial signs are positive despite both nominees’ serious baggage.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who’s up for reelection in 2026, said Patel has “baseline” qualifications for the FBI job, adding he has a “presumptive positive position” on Patel. Tillis also seemed to cast doubt on the idea that Patel would carry out some of the more radical reforms to the FBI that Patel himself has proposed.
“A lot of what we’ve examined since he was first being talked about is more of a political positioning,” Tillis said. “Everybody says what they want to say about him seeking retribution … I just don’t see it.”
Senate GOP leaders also didn’t voice any objections Monday to Trump’s desire to replace Christopher Wray atop the FBI even though his term doesn’t expire until 2027. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune noted that Wray “was the Trump nominee last time around” and shrugged off complaints about Trump ousting his second FBI director. Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey in May 2017.
“My job is to make sure that the nominees have a thorough, fair process. And ultimately our members are going to decide,” Thune added.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), no fan of Trump, said he didn’t have an issue with the fact that Trump is prepared to sack Wray to make way for Patel.
“It’s not illegal. So that’s not going to be a hang-up,” Young said. “The most important thing is, are we going to have a competent head of the FBI to carry out the important mission it has? So I need to learn more about the background of the nominee.”
