Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jan. 30, 2025.
Trump’s rockiest Cabinet picks get spicy hearings
It was a rough few days for Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The day before the confirmation hearings got underway, his cousin, Caroline Kennedy called him a “predator” and said the Senate should reject his nomination.
RFK Jr. went on to struggle through his appearance in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, botching answers to questions on Medicare and raising questions about his chances of being confirmed. In a second appearance on Thursday, this one in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, he had another rough go, clashing with Sen. Bernie Sanders over vaccine safety and effectiveness and stumbling over Medicare questions once again.
FBI head nominee Kash Patel had his own raucous hearing on Thursday, though he tried to smooth over some concerns about his fitness to lead by distancing himself from conspiracy theories he’d previously sympathized with, like QAnon. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse tore into Patel, saying “There is an unfathomable difference between a seeming facade being constructed around this nominee here today and what he has actually done and said in real life when left to his own devices.”
Nonetheless, both Kennedy and Patel could squeak through the Senate. If they do, Republicans would still face their biggest confirmation challenge. Director of National Intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard was also put through the wringer on Thursday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She faces, perhaps, the longest odds of any Trump Cabinet pick, and the GOP will likely struggle to confirm her in the days to come.US Attorney Pamela Jo Bondi speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the nomination hearing for US Attorney General in Washington DC, USA, on January 15, 2025, at Hart Senate/Capitol Hill.
Trump Cabinet hearings ramp up, and so do concerns
On Monday, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the first president to serve two nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland over a century ago. As he heads back to the White House, his controversial Cabinet nominees face hearings in the Senate, while concerns about the weaponization of government institutions loom.
The first tranche of Trump nominees — including scandal-struckPete Hegseth forsecretary of defense, Pam Bondi for attorney general, Marco Rubio for secretary of state, Scott Bessent for treasury secretary, and John Ratcliffe for CIA director — all appear to stand a strong chance of confirmation. Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and FBI director, Kash Patel, however, may face longer odds.
Patel has vowed to go after “government gangsters” — so-called enemies within the state — raising questions as to whether he would use the FBI to target Trump’s political opponents. At her hearing, Bondi said she would not create an “enemies list” to prosecute, but she defended Patel, calling him “the right person at this time for this job.” Nonetheless, she told the Senate Judiciary Committee she would “not target people simply because of their political affiliation.”
Gabbard, who has talked about a “slow-rolling coup” by government insiders against US democracy, has also raised concerns. As she plans to remake the US intelligence machine, she faces accusations of parroting Kremlin propaganda — an accusation that experts say could make Western intelligence agencies uncomfortable, to say the least.
Neither Patel nor Gabbard have had hearings scheduled yet. We’ll be watching when they’re ready for their close-ups.