Multiple Democratic and Republican senators on Nov. 24 signaled that they will grill President-elect Donald Trump’s choices to lead the Intelligence Community and the Pentagon.
Earlier this month, Trump nominated former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to become his director of national intelligence (DNI) and Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of defense. Both positions require confirmation by the Senate.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Nov. 24 on CNN that his panel will have “lots of questions” for Gabbard, singling out her meeting as a congresswoman with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as a point of contention.
“She met with Bashar Assad. We’ll want to know what the purpose was,” he said.
“We’ll want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context.”
Also on Nov. 24, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) told the network that she believes Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, is “unqualified” to head up the Pentagon and also criticized the choice of Gabbard for DNI.
“I do think that we have a real deep concern whether or not she’s a compromised person,” Duckworth said, referring to the Assad meeting and her previous comments on Russia.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a member of the chamber’s Judiciary Committee, told ABC News on Nov. 24 that she wants background checks on Trump’s Cabinet selections.
“They’ve got to get their background checks together. They’ve got to get qualified nominees,” Klobuchar said.
“I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I’ve done in the past, and I can’t do that without the background checks.”
However, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told CNN that Gabbard could easily pass a background check because she is serving in the Army Reserve.
“There’s no document, there’s no background there for her to see, for anyone to see. She is a true patriot of the United States, and there’s no reason why the Democrats are going after her other than the fact they’re upset that she left their woke party,” he said, referencing the former congresswoman’s departure from the Democratic Party two years ago and her officially joining the Republican Party in October.
Hegseth has come under scrutiny in recent days after a 2017 police report revealed allegations - not charges - against the Fox News host.
The report states that a woman accused him of sexual assault at a hotel room in California; Hegseth has denied the allegations and has never been charged.
When he is nominated to head the Department of Defense after Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025, he is likely to face questions over the matter.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), told ABC on Nov. 24 that Hegseth is a “very talented individual” and that the claims are just “allegations.”
According to the senator, Hegseth may help boost recruitment numbers or retain enlisted members.
“We have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military,” he said, noting that people have told him that some military officials have informed him that they will stay in the military as a result of the Hegseth announcement.
“That’s the type of inspirational leader we need to see. Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real, significant change,” Hagerty said.
“The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.”
Last week, Trump’s first choice for U.S. attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration and said he will not be returning to the House next year. Gaetz said he doesn’t want an ongoing House Ethics investigation into his conduct to become a distraction for Trump.
Before Gaetz’s withdrawal, multiple Republican senators said they would want to see the ethics report before deciding whether to confirm him. The president-elect named attorney Pam Bondi as his new nominee for U.S. attorney general.
Over the weekend, Trump named investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be the Treasury secretary and named former Trump official Russ Vought to be his budget chief.
