Time for Senate Republicans to Decide

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Over the next several days, many of Donald Trump’s Cabinet selections will appear before the Senate for confirmation hearings. By putting forth a series of unqualified candidates who, in other political moments, would likely not have made it this far, Trump has muddled the process before the hearings have even begun: As my colleague David Graham put it in November, “the sheer quantity of individually troubling nominees might actually make it harder for the Senate to block any of them.”

But the outcome of the Senate confirmation hearings is not a foregone conclusion. Yes, Senate Republicans have shown that they are reliably deferential toward Trump (though some drew a line at his selection of Matt Gaetz for attorney general). Many of his picks will be easily confirmed, my colleague Russell Berman, who covers politics, predicted, given the Republicans’ 53–47 majority in the Senate. But with the current makeup of the Senate, each pick can afford to lose only three GOP votes (assuming that every Democrat opposes the nomination), so for the ones who have yet to lock in support from every single Republican, the hearings could make the difference. Democrats, Russell explained to me, will attempt to use the hearings to build a case for the public that some of Trump’s nominees “are either unqualified or don’t reflect the views and values of most Americans.”

Among the first hearings is one that will reveal whether even a few Republicans are willing to defy the president-elect. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. EST, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense, is scheduled to appear before senators. They will have much to ask him about, including Hegseth’s confirmation that he reached a financial settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault (though he has denied the assault allegation), accusations that he is prone to excessive drinking (he has denied having a drinking problem, and one Republican senator has claimed that Hegseth told senators that he has stopped drinking and won’t drink if confirmed), reports of his failures in leading veterans’ organizations and forced departures from those roles (which Hegseth’s camp called “outlandish claims”), and his suggestion that women shouldn’t serve in military-combat positions.

Democrats have already hammered him on these issues: Senator Elizabeth Warren released a scalding 33-page letter last week outlining questions about his fitness to serve. Republicans have also scrutinized Hegseth and other nominees, although none has yet said publicly that they would vote against any of Trump’s picks. Russell advised that in addition to the Republican moderates Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, GOP senators to keep a close eye on throughout the hearings include Senator Mitch McConnell, who is somewhat liberated from total deference to Trump because he’s no longer leader of the party, and Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to impeach Trump after January 6.

Not every pick has a hearing scheduled yet—RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and others are not yet on the calendar. In recent decades, just one Cabinet nomination (John Tower, George H. W. Bush’s pick for secretary of defense) has been voted down; others who faced tough odds have withdrawn—a path Hegseth or other nominees may follow if it seems likely they won’t win enough support. Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to lead the Justice Department, bowed out shortly after being tapped, following an ethics-committee inquiry into allegations that included sexual misconduct and illicit drug use (Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing).

Senators from both parties have pushed to see FBI background checks that, although not legally required, have been customary for a president to mandate (the agreement that Trump’s transition team signed with the DOJ did not specify whether he will require FBI involvement for his picks). Trump and his supporters have for years been attempting to damage the reputation of the FBI, and now some, including Elon Musk, are suggesting that anything the agency digs up won’t be credible. That posture, Russell explained, is another tactic to “speed up the confirmation of nominees whom the Senate might have rejected in an earlier political era.” In an effort to get their way, Trump’s allies seem poised to cast doubt on the whole process, encouraging Americans to mistrust another long-standing government norm. That legacy could last longer than Trump’s second term.

Here are four new stories from The Atlantic:

Today’s News

Winds are expected to pick up across parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the National Weather Service. The wildfires in Southern California have killed at least 25 people, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon allowed the release of a portion of a report written by former Special Counsel Jack Smith about the 2020 election-interference case against Trump.
President Joe Biden announced that student loans will be forgiven for more than 150,000 borrowers.

Dispatches

The Wonder Reader: Everyday decisions can accumulate into a life of isolation, Isabel Fattal writes.

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Evening Read

The Easiest Way to Keep Your Friends

By Serena Dai

The hardest part about adult friendship is, by far, scheduling time to see one another, especially when trying to plan for a group. Thursday’s bad for one person, and Saturday’s not good for another. Monday would work—but hold up, the restaurant we want to try isn’t open that day. Let’s wait a couple of weeks. Somehow, though, the day never comes. Your friends forgot to follow up, or maybe you did. Either way, can you even call one another friends anymore?

Read the full article.