Senators bracing for confirmation battles over unorthodox Trump Cabinet picks

By Lauren Fox and Clare Foran, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans avoided a confirmation firestorm when former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as attorney general, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill are already bracing for how they’ll navigate the next slew of unorthodox Donald Trump picks — and they have warned the president-elect’s choice to lead the Pentagon, who faces controversy over his past comments and history, that the confirmation process is a long and invasive process.

Some of Trump’s Cabinet selections, including Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, and Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for director of national intelligence, could force Republicans to choose between their allegiance to Trump and their growing concerns that some of his nominees might not be up for the job or might not be possible to confirm in a narrowly controlled Senate.

Hegseth on Thursday huddled with a handful of Republican senators, many of them seen as close allies of Trump, for a series of meetings. Lawmakers who emerged included Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who called it “a great meeting,” and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who called Hegseth “very qualified to do the job.”

Earlier on the morning of those meetings, new details had emerged about a police report from 2017 in which a woman alleged that Hegseth blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” CNN reported.

Police declined to press charges, and Hegseth has maintained the encounter was consensual.

But while some members of the party signal support for the nomination, other Republicans on the Hill warn that there are mounting concerns about Hegseth. Although many senators have known Hegseth, a Fox News host, for years, the process of vetting him to be the secretary of Defense will force them to examine him and his views in a new light.

For one, Republicans have been clear with him — as they were with Gaetz shortly before the former congressman withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general — that the confirmation process is a lengthy one, involving repeated meetings with sometimes-skeptical senators and culminating in a high-stakes confirmation hearing that will likely dig deep into the allegations against him. That, aides and members warn, is before senators grill him on how he is equipped to lead a massive entity like the Pentagon given his limited experience.

Another top issue is past statements Hegseth has made about women in combat roles in the military. With a 53-seat majority, Hegseth and other Trump nominees can afford to lose only three Republican votes, leaving little room for error.

In a sign of the potential challenges ahead for Trump’s picks, GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer on Thursday called the sexual assault allegation against Hegseth “pretty concerning,” though Cramer said he would not prejudge Hegseth before the Senate has had a chance to fully vet his background.

Hegseth isn’t alone. Another Trump pick Republicans are watching closely is former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has come under increased scrutiny for her views on surveillance and the agencies that conduct it that she soon could run.

“If we are ranking the most in trouble, she’s No. 1,” one GOP aide warned.

Sen. James Lankford, the newest addition to the Senate Republican leadership team, told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday that they will have “lots of questions” when asked about Trump’s selection for director of national intelligence.

“We’ll have lots of questions,” Lankford, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on “State of the Union” when asked if there was anything about Gabbard that concerned him. “There’s comments that are floating out there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story.”

And still another Trump selection who has courted controversy, including over his vaccine skepticism, is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect’s pick to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Republicans navigate vetting process after Gaetz withdraws

Gaetz’s swift withdrawal underscored that even with Republicans soon to control both chambers of Congress as well as the White House, the president-elect will still face at least some hurdles ahead.

Gaetz pulled himself from consideration after he made his own trek to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for meetings with GOP senators, seeking to shore up support for his nomination. But on Thursday morning, Trump called Gaetz with bad news: He did not have the votes in the Senate to win confirmation, according to a source with direct knowledge of the call.

As news of Gaetz’s decision to opt out of seeking the attorney general post spread to senators on Capitol Hill, many members — who knew that Gaetz would be difficult to confirm — were struck by a sense of relief.

“It was going to be very challenging. Very challenging. The most challenging of the nominees,” said one Republican senator, speaking on the condition of background to speak freely.

Some of the selections so far have also raised questions over the level of vetting Trump’s picks are getting before the president-elect announces a name. Trump’s transition team was in the middle of announcing new Cabinet picks when they were informed of the sexual assault allegation against Hegseth, CNN reported, stunning several members of the team.

Asked about how the Trump team is vetting potential nominees, Cramer told reporters, “That’s their concern — if they don’t want to vet more, or if they want to take a chance on these, that’s up to them. Our job will be to vet. If they don’t, we will; if they do, we will.”

Pressed on whether the allegation Hegseth faces gives him pause, Cramer said, “It’s a pretty big problem, given that we have a sexual assault problem in our military.”

“This is why you have background checks, it’s why you have hearings, this is why you go through the scrutiny. I’m not going to prejudge him, but, yeah, it’s a pretty concerning accusation,” he said.

Hegseth claimed on Thursday that due to the lack of charges, he was “completely cleared” in an investigation into the allegation made against him.

“As far as the media is concerned, I’ll keep this very simple. The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared. That’s where I’m going to leave it,” he told reporters.

While no charges were filed, the report does not say that police found the allegations to be false, which Hegseth’s attorney has claimed.

His attorney has acknowledged that Hegseth later entered into a settlement agreement with his accuser that included an undisclosed monetary payment and a confidentiality clause. Though Hegseth insisted the encounter was consensual, the lawyer said he was fearful that the woman was poised to make an allegation against him during the #MeToo movement that might cost him his job as a Fox News host.

Mullin said that Hegseth voluntarily brought up the sexual assault allegation against him in a meeting on Capitol Hill. Based on the police report, Mullin said he does not view the incident as a sexual assault.

“He voluntarily talked about it,” Mullin told reporters after the meeting. “Obviously, we head-started it. It’s a topic that’s gonna be discussed.”

On Sunday, the Oklahoma Republican continued his vigorous defense of Hegseth, stressing on CNN that he had not been charged with a crime.

“It’s what’s unfortunate in today’s world, you can be accused of anything, and then if, especially if it’s something like this, you’re automatically assumed to be guilty,” he said on “State of the Union.”

Pressed on Hegseth’s comments that women should not be able to serve in combat, Mullin emphasized that the president-elect would make the final decision.

“I have three girls. I don’t want them to be limited,” he told Bash. “But who ultimately makes that decision is President Trump. And President Trump respects every person serving in the military, regardless of male or female. There’s no limitations.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Sam Fossum and Aileen Graf contributed to this report.

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