Why Trump's Cabinet nominees are facing confirmation delays

Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees began this week. It won't be easy sledding for some of the candidates to lead America's government agencies.

Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice to lead the Defense Department, was first in dock on Tuesday morning. He told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that his focus would be on "warfighting and lethality," said CNN. His mission at the Pentagon will be to "bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense," he told the committee. But Hegseth is beset by questions regarding his past alcohol use, alleged mismanagement of nonprofit organizations and sexual assault allegations. Hegseth is not "qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

Just a "small handful" of Trump's Cabinet choices are on track for a quick confirmation, said Politico. The problems aren't just political opposition. Trump and his allies want a large number of nominees "confirmed on Day One," but paperwork delays — FBI background checks, financial disclosures and other documents — are slowing down the process. Those issues are "sparking tensions" between Senate Republicans and Trump's team. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the nominees should be approved quickly, but the "Senate has a role: advise and consent."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

How will Democrats handle the confirmation hearings?

Senate Democrats will use their question time during the hearings to "rough up some of the nominees on their qualifications," Philip Elliot said at Time. Hegseth isn't the only nominee who will face tough opposition: Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice for director of national intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the pick for top health official, will both face heavy skepticism. Democrats don't expect to be able to "derail" all of Trump's nominees, Elliot said, but "do have reasonable expectations that they could ding a few" enough that the new president rethinks his choices.

But Trump's nominees have "good chances of winning confirmation" despite that opposition, said The Hill. Republicans, after all, have a 53-seat majority in the Senate. Cabinet nominees would have to lose the support of at least four GOP senators to be defeated, and that seems unlikely to happen. Those senators are inclined to "let the president have his team, absent some extraordinary circumstances," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Who will be quickly confirmed?

Thune is trying to "game out" which nominees he can help get confirmed and ready to go on Trump's first day in office, Politico said. Nominations for "national security space are awfully important," he said. That group includes Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Trump's pick for secretary of state, as well as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the choice to be ambassador to the United Nations. Those Day One confirmations are a "top priority," said Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).

But the delays are mounting. A confirmation hearing for Doug Collins, Trump's pick to run the Veterans Affairs, was supposed to start on Tuesday, said Military Times. It was instead delayed to Jan. 21 because of "missing background paperwork." And Gabbard's nomination for DNI is "in limbo" because senators are still waiting on the necessary documents, said The Washington Examiner. For senators voting on the nominations, "it's critical that you have these documents," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).