While several of the 13 nominees will breeze through the 11 committees’ grillings, others will be dogged by issues ranging from suspected sexual assault and excessive drinking to their ties to tyrants and vaccine skepticism.

The Trump nominees have been undergoing rigorous training, participating in simulated hearings and receiving coaching on how to handle challenging questions while remaining steadfastly loyal to the president-elect.

“People see the nominees this time as a continuation of Donald Trump and his agenda,” Trump’s first White House spokesperson, Sean Spicer, told CNN.

They aren’t there to support their own opinions. Their purpose is to support Trump’s policies.

Republicans in the Senate are eager for Trump’s national security choices to be approved as soon as possible, and Democrats might consent to expedite some of them. However, they are committed to  throw up roadblocks in front of candidates they see as unfit.

Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News anchor and Army National Guard officer nominated for secretary of defense, will be among the first and most contentious people on the docket.

Hegseth’s hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning. He has been accused of sexual assault, financial impropriety, excessive drinking, and his views on women in the military have been a source of ongoing questions. Additionally, he lacks any relevant management expertise.

Hegseth was characterized as “a guy with a track record of being so drunk at work events that he needed to be carried out on multiple occasions” by Senator Elizabeth Warren, representing the Armed Services Committee.

When it comes to making crucial national security decisions, can we really rely on phoning Hegseth at two in the morning? On X, she answered, “Nope.”

If every Democrat and independent votes against Hegseth, he can only afford three Republican rejections and still be approved.

Fiery hearings

However, even as the defamatory headlines have increased and Senate Republicans seem willing to listen to him, he has managed to keep Trump’s backing.

Promotion
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who is now a Trump supporter, is another contender whose lack of credentials and experience, along with her views on US enemies, have aroused concerns.

In 2017, Gabbard visited with Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria at the time, and proclaimed him “not the enemy.” She has expressed compassion for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well.

However, after she changed her mind and backed a contentious government intelligence-gathering program that she attempted to abolish in 2020, opposition seems to be easing.

It is anticipated that both parties would exert some pressure on the nominees, particularly on Trump’s anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and contender for secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

However, Trump’s choice for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, a foreign policy hawk and former senator from Florida, is a sure shot with bipartisan support and is probably going to be confirmed before Trump takes office on January 20.

Along with Rubio, CIA’s previously confirmed national intelligence director John Ratcliffe, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, and homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem all have hearings on Wednesday.

Following the withdrawal of his first nominee, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, due to allegations of sexual misconduct  and drug-taking allegations, Bondi became Trump’s second option.

The hearings for Kennedy and Trump’s choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, are among the most potentially contentious ones that have not yet been set.

The confirmation hearing for Patel, a conspiracy theorist who claimed in a podcast that Trump would “come after” reporters, attorneys, and judges who he feels have not treated him fairly, is not anticipated to take place until February.

Trump’s team lost an attempt early Tuesday to stop then-special counsel Jack Smith’s report from being released, which described the incoming president’s purported illegal attempt to void the 2020 election outcome that saw Joe Biden win.

According to the newspaper, if Smith hadn’t withdrawn the case following the Republican’s election as president in November of last year, Trump would have been found guilty at trial.