President-elect Donald Trump delivered a message to Senate Republicans who may have reservations about his federal and Cabinet nominations.
In recent weeks, Trump’s nominees have headed to the Hill to meet with senators ahead of their confirmations. While several nominees are expected to cruise through their Senate confirmations, others have been met with pushback. As a result, Trump cautioned senators against striking down his nominees, predicting that they would “probably be primaried” as a result.
Although Trump’s nominees have been gaining momentum, Republicans hold a very narrow advantage in the upcoming Congress, which could pose a challenge.
“If they’re unreasonable, if they are opposing somebody for political reasons or stupid reasons, I would say, and it has nothing to do with me, I would say they probably would be primaried,” Trump said during the press conference. “But if they’re reasonable, fair, and really disagree with something or somebody, I could see that happening.”
“I think we have great people. I think we have a great group of people,” Trump added.
Since his landslide electoral victory in November, Trump has hit the ground running with nominations. One nominee who dominated the news cycle was former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida for attorney general. Gaetz, who has been a staunch ally of Trump throughout his political career, quickly eclipsed all other news events during the two weeks he was in the running for attorney general.
This nomination was also met with public and private pushback from Republican senators who had reservations about the Florida firebrand. Consequently, Gaetz withdrew his bid, claiming that he had become an unnecessary “distraction” for the Trump transition team.
Trump later nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who he says has received sweeping support from Senate Republicans.
“Pam has been unbelievably received,” Trump said of his attorney general nominee.
After Gaetz withdrew, Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, quickly became the subject of scrutiny throughout the week he spent meeting with senators. Notably, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa actively lobbied against Hegseth’s nomination, multiple sources close to the Senate confirmed to Blaze News.
As a result, Trump’s allies launched a pressure campaign against Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2026. Following the backlash, Ersnt met with Hegseth for a second time and publicly supported his nomination.
“I think Pete Hegseth is making tremendous strides over the last week,” Trump said of the nominee.
Although Trump’s nominees have been gaining momentum, Republicans hold a very narrow advantage in the upcoming Congress, which could pose a challenge.
Republicans flipped Senate seats in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana, putting the GOP at 53 seats. Since Senate confirmations require a simple majority, each nominee can afford to lose only three Republican votes, assuming that Vice President-elect JD Vance participates as a potential tiebreaker.
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