Senate braces for ‘train wreck' as hearings kick off for Trump Cabinet picks

The Republican-led Senate is slated to hold more than a dozen hearings this week for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, with the hope of confirming them quickly after he’s inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The selections coming before the Senate range from those who are expected to have smooth paths to confirmation, like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state, to others who face headwinds and need the hearings to garner support, such as former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a military veteran, for defense secretary.

“We’re going to have a little bit of a train wreck next week of confirmation hearings,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters last week. “But I’m glad we’re getting those done, and the FBI background check would naturally be a part of that process.”

The hearings kick off Tuesday with Hegseth; former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., Trump’s pick for veterans affairs secretary; and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for secretary of the interior.

On Wednesday, hearings will feature Rubio; former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick to head the Justice Department; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to head up the Department of Homeland Security; former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, who was picked to lead the CIA; former Trump White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who was tapped to fill the role again; former Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., who was selected for transportation secretary; and oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright, Trump’s choice for energy secretary.

And the Thursday hearings will include a second day of Bondi appearing before senators; Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., the pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, who’s in line to lead the Treasury Department; and former NFL player Eric Scott Turner, who was tapped for housing and urban development secretary.

Other hearings will be scheduled in the days and weeks ahead, too.

If the prospective nominees are approved by the respective Senate committees that have oversight over their departments, they will require 50 votes from the full Senate to assure confirmation. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be able to break a tie starting Jan. 20, when he and Trump take office. Sen.-elect Jim Justice, R-W.Va., is expected to be sworn in before the inauguration. Republicans are down a seat due to Vance’s resignation, but his successor can be sworn in quickly after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, selects one. That’ll give the GOP 53 seats, allowing three defections before Democratic votes are needed.

Some nominees will get Democratic votes. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has expressed support for Rubio, Stefanik and Duffy.

“I think I’ve met everybody except Dr. Oz. But I’m familiar with Dr. Oz,” Fetterman said of Mehmet Oz, Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, whom he defeated in the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate election. “I’ve heard of him before.”

Cornyn said he “enthusiastically” supports Rubio, his fellow Republican senator, and predicted that he wouldn’t have a hostile hearing.

“I think that will be the closest hearing that’s a lovefest of any of the confirmation hearings,” Cornyn said. “I can’t say that about the other ones.”

Others face strong opposition from Democrats, who are warning Republicans not to rush through confirmations of candidates before their FBI background checks clear and the Senate takes the appropriate time to vet them. Democrats will seek to pressure GOP senators to sink some of the nominees.

Hegseth has been battling allegations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and mismanaging the finances of a nonprofit veterans group.

Several Republicans were initially noncommittal about supporting Hegseth, including Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a survivor of sexual assault and a member of the Armed Services Committee, the panel that will examine his nomination. While she hasn’t said whether she plans to vote for him, Ernst has since released a statement saying she will “support Pete through this process” and looks forward to “a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.”

Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2026, has faced pressure from Trump allies to back him.

The top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., also remained concerned about Hegseth’s ability to lead the Defense Department after the two met last week. Reed and the chair of the committee, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., received Hegseth’s FBI background check late Friday.

Along with Hegseth, several other Trump picks have faced bipartisan skepticism from senators, including Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who is now a Republican, to be the director of national intelligence, and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary. Hearings for Gabbard and Kennedy haven’t been scheduled yet.

Gabbard has faced questions about her past dealings with foreign adversaries like former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. She recently shifted her views on a key intelligence gathering authority that she previously sought to dismantle when she served in the House of Representatives.

In a statement to NBC News, Gabbard said that if confirmed, she would work to uphold Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Act — an intelligence gathering tool passed by Congress after Sept. 11, 2001, that allows the government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign nationals living outside the U.S. without needing to obtain a warrant.

Still, Democrats aren’t convinced. Gabbard was “noticeably noncommittal” about her stance on the national security tool in her meeting with the Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a source familiar with the matter said.

The shift comes as Senate Republicans are pushing to hold Gabbard’s confirmation hearing before Trump is sworn in. Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., committed to holding the hearing before Jan. 20, but her FBI background check and Office of Government Ethics paperwork had still not been received by the committee as of Friday, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

As of Friday, Senate committees set to hold hearings for Burgum and Wright were also missing key documentation that members traditionally receive beforehand. Burgum’s and Wright’s hearings are still slated for Tuesday and Wednesday despite objections from Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee.

Bondi, the pick for attorney general, faces two days of hearings on Wednesday and Thursday. The former Florida attorney general, who served as Trump’s personal lawyer during his first impeachment trial, has proved to be more palatable to Senate Judiciary Republicans following the collapse of former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s bid for the top post.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused his Republican colleagues of “rushing” through the president-elect’s picks without proper vetting.

“When Republicans, like the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, try to rush nominees before senators have even received basic information, such as background reports, Americans have to ask, what are Republicans trying to hide?” Schumer said on the Senate floor last week.

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