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The 6 Republican senators who could sink a Trump nomination

The 6 Republican senators who could sink a Trump nomination

President-elect Trump is rounding out his administration with cabinet nominations, but their confirmation ultimately relies on support from linchpins in the Senate who could be skeptical of his appointees. While the incoming president has the power to appoint members to his Cabinet, it is ultimately up to Congress to have the final say in whether they are confirmed to the positions through a confirmation process.  While the GOP will hold the majority in the next Congress, however, Senate confirmation could hang on a few key Republicans who have expressed mixed feelings about Trump’s cabinet selections. Longtime Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has had a rocky relationship with Trump over the years, most recently releasing a new book that revealed his not-so-flattering thoughts about the president-elect. According to the book, the Senate minority leader has reportedly slammed Trump as “stupid,” “erratic,” a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist.”  “I can’t think of anybody I’d rather be criticized by than this sleazeball,” he said in 2022, as Trump continued to attack his wife, former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, calling her “Coco Chow.”   After the book’s release, McConnell told Fox News Digital that “we are all on the same team now.”  Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said that she is not certain former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Trump’s controversial attorney general nominee, will make it through the confirmation process. “I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” the Alaska Republican said. “We need to have a serious attorney general. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. This one was not on my bingo card.” Murkowski also expressed surprise to hear of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s nomination to secretary of defense. “Wow,” Murkowski said. “I’m just surprised, because the names that I’ve heard for secretary of defense have not included him.” Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, said she was “shocked that he [Gaetz] has been nominated.” “He’s under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics. Obviously, the president has the right to nominate whomever he wishes, but this is why the background checks that are done by the FBI and the advice and consent process in the Senate, and public hearings are also important,” she said. Gaetz was under a yearslong ethics investigation in the House looking into reports of alleged sexual involvement with a minor, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts. After Gaetz was nominated, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that despite a history of sparring with the attorney general nominee on social media, he would go through the confirmation process the same as any other pick. However, Tillis said that the president should select nominees who can pass the chamber’s vetting process. “The president deserves to put forth a nominee. The president has an obligation to make sure that that nominee is gonna pass vetting and have the votes on the floor,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters after Gaetz was nominated. Tillis, however, suggested that the public should not be shocked if the former Florida congressman is not confirmed. “I will consider Matt Gaetz like I will anyone else, but if they don’t do the homework, don’t be surprised if they fail. Maybe they’ve already done that work,” he added. “Nothing surprises me in politics, nothing. And I’m okay with this. But at the end of the day we have a process, and we’ll just have to run through it.” Tillis added that he cares about “a defensible résumé, and a really clean vetting. Produce that he’s got a chance, don’t, and he doesn’t.” Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who did not publicly support Trump for the Republican presidential nomination this year, could be another deciding vote on cabinet confirmations. The GOP senator previously told reporters he would not be supporting Trump’s 2024 presidential run partly because the former president’s “judgment is wrong” on the Russia-Ukraine war. Asked about Gaetz’s nomination, he did not respond and instead began praising Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as Trump’s Secretary of State pick. Utah Republican John Curtis, recently elected to fill the being left by retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, said that he believes the Senate should have the final say in whether a Trump nominee is confirmed or not. “Senator-elect Curtis believes that every president is afforded a degree of deference to select his team and make nominations,” Corey Norman, Curtis’ chief of staff, told KSL TV in a statement. “He also firmly believes in and is committed to the Senate’s critical role to confirm or reject nominations.” Other senators have voiced uncertainty about Gaetz’s chances of being confirmed. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said that Gaetz has got an “uphill climb” ahead of him, while Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said, according to The New York Times, that “I think all but Gaetz are very doable — maybe not lovable, but doable.”

Thune ‘adamant’ about Trump support, driving MAGA agenda despite tense past relationship

Thune ‘adamant’ about Trump support, driving MAGA agenda despite tense past relationship

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., was “adamant” he would carry out President-elect Trump’s agenda as leader as he made his case to GOP senators before they selected him to succeed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Wednesday.  “I will just say that Sen. Thune said over and over and over and over in this long meeting that he was 100% behind President Trump — 100% behind his agenda,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “He was adamant about it.”  TOP GOP SENATORS WARN DOJ TO PRESERVE JACK SMITH DOCS IN TRUMP CASES, CITING ‘PAST DESTRUCTION’ OF RECORDS Hawley noted that he did not vote for Thune, instead publicly endorsing Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.  “But I will hold him to that pledge,” Hawley said of Thune.  The incoming Republican Senate majority leader’s insistence to his conference that he would be a force for Trump’s agenda in the upper chamber came as an air of concern existed in Washington, D.C., regarding whether Thune and the president-elect had truly mended their previously fractured relationship.  But Republicans of all stripes expressed degrees of confidence in him to do so after the leadership elections.  Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., an ally of Trump who publicly backed Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to be the next Republican leader, told Fox News Digital, “I think it’s very clear that this is going to be a conference for all of us. He’s going to do this by consensus with us.”  THUNE SAYS TRUMP’S BORDER PLAN IS 1ST UP IN RIGOROUS PRIORITY LIST FOR NEW CONGRESS: ‘REAL WORK BEGINS’ Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., another top Trump ally, emphasized, “Sen. Thune is very supportive of President Trump and his agenda. And, most importantly, the Senate majority is too. So, I’m very optimistic.” One of Thune’s top advocates in the leader race was an early endorser, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who also happens to be close to Trump. “I know President Trump, and I know Thune has personally — they have visited multiple times,” he told reporters after Thune won the election.  “They are at a good place with each other. There’s no rift between them,” Mullin said, adding the two were on “the same page. “I have no concerns about their relationship at all.” MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL Trump never publicly weighed in on the GOP leader race despite a number of vocal figures in his orbit choosing to get behind Scott, who was considered by some to be more aligned with Trump’s “MAGA” ideology.  Billionaire and X owner Elon Musk, who Trump has said will be a part of his administration, had endorsed Scott and criticized Thune, claiming he was the candidate Democrats were supporting.  While Trump didn’t issue an endorsement, it didn’t stop observers from speculating he was supporting Scott for the role. However, Trump might have actually been backing Thune in private. Two sources familiar with the situation, including a senator in the room during the leader election, told Fox News Digital that National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines, R-Mont., insinuated ahead of the elections that Trump may have been privately backing Thune.  THUNE WINS SECRET BALLOT TO BECOME NEW SENATE GOP LEADER, SUCCEEDING MCCONNELL Daines gave one of the nominating speeches for Thune before the secret ballot vote Wednesday.  When initially contacted regarding the claims, Daines’ office told Fox News Digital he told his Republican colleagues, “Trump likes Thune.” After publication, Daines’ deputy communications director, Rachel Dumke, denied the senator suggested Trump had been backing Thune.  “This anonymously sourced story is false. Sen. Daines told his colleagues that President Trump likes Sen. Thune, but he never said he endorsed him. If President Trump endorsed in that race, everybody would have known about it,” she said in a statement.  Similar criticisms to Musk’s were lobbed on social media, in addition to claims Thune would replicate the leadership McConnell showcased during his tenure.  But Mullin argued against these suggestions. “His leadership is very different,” he said. “I mean, Thune is someone that involves the conference before he makes a decision.” According to the Oklahoma Republican, Thune will be involved in engaging the conference like a team and making decisions like a “play call.” “Not everybody may agree with the play call,” he warned, “but the majority of the Republicans will be on board before we make a decision to move forward.” Thune’s office declined to comment to Fox News Digital.