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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.FILE PHOTO: Kash Patel, former chief of staff to the defense secretary, speaks on the day Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally, in Prescott Valley, Arizona, U.S., October 13, 2024.
Kash Patel vs. the FBI
President-elect Donald Trump’s latest nomination of former National Security official Kash Patel as head of the FBI wasn’t unexpected, but it’s still making waves. Patel has been outspoken about dismantling what he calls the “deep state,” vowing to strip the FBI of its intelligence-gathering role and to refocus its mission on traditional law enforcement. He has mused about shuttering the FBI’s headquarters “on day one” and redistributing its 7,000 employees across the country to “go be cops” – a huge departure from the traditional role of the FBI as the country’s domestic intelligence agency.
Who is Kash Patel? He is a hard-core Trump loyalist who helped challenge the FBI’s Russia probe during Trump’s first impeachment proceedings. Before that, he served as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade area, where he tried “scores of complex cases ranging from murder, to narco-trafficking, to complex financial crimes in jury trials in state and federal courts,” according to his Defense Department biography. Trump said Patel would restore “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity” to the FBI, “dismantle the migrant criminal gangs,” and stymie drug and human trafficking.
How might the Senate react? Patel’s nominationis likely to split the Senate. Democrats will unsurprisingly oppose his appointment, but some moderate Republicans may also balk. On Sunday, Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota warned that Patel could face a tough confirmation battle, while Sens. Ted Cruz and Bill Hagerty sang Patel’s praises.