President-elect Donald Trump was elected with one term last week. Now he’s using it to challenge Republican senators to confirm his cabinet picks, which range from the predictable to the unconventional.

Trump began by bolstering his incoming administration with conventional figures. Susie Wiles, a respected GOP strategist who ran his successful campaign, would make sure the trains run on time as chief of staff. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, an institutionalist who has embraced Trump’s “America First” agenda, would handle diplomacy as secretary of state. Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Tim Homan will return to a border control role.

He then announced the nominees which caught lawmakers off guard. Fox News host and US Army veteran Pete Hegseth has been tapped to lead the Pentagon. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat turned Trump ally who previously met with Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, would be director of national intelligence.

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And to top it all off, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz would head the Justice Department despite a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. He has denied the claims, and the Justice Department — the agency he would have led if confirmed — declined to press charges after a similar investigation.

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Now, as a new Senate majority prepares to take control in January and work with the president-elect, Trump is leaning in, betting that Republicans on Capitol Hill will go along after touting the need for unity.

“He appoints exactly the people he wants, knowing he can confirm him if he has enough Republicans,” said former Senate GOP aide Brian Darling. “And I have a feeling they will be confirmed by virtue of the fact that Trump’s threats to Republican primaries in the past have really scared a lot of Republicans who were never Trump into retirement and caused a lot of them to lose primaries.”

“He challenges them,” Darling said. “I think they’re all confirmed. Not without controversy, but I think they’re confirmed.”

The recent nominations of Hegseth, Gabbard and Gaetz were not on Washington’s radar before their announcements, with Gaetz in particular raising eyebrows shortly after Trump released this pick.

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Hegseth and Gabbard “likely” will be confirmed, a current Republican Senate aide predicted, while Gaetz is “on the bubble.”

“I don’t think this is a serious nomination for attorney general. We need to have a serious attorney general, and I look forward to the opportunity to consider someone who is serious. This was not on my bingo card,” Alaska. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key GOP Swing vote, told reporters after Gaetz’s nomination was announced.

“That’s why the Senate’s advice and consent process is so important. I’m sure there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz’s hearing,” added Maine Sen. Susan Collins, another moderate Republican.

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The reality of the upcoming confirmation battles is hitting Republicans who have just completed the contentious and important process of forming a new Senate leadership team.

“Ninety-nine percent of the discussion was: who will be the new leader, what will the rules be, how do we work with the transition team. I heard we didn’t talk about certain nominees. talk about it,” said the current Republican Senate aide.

Early Wednesday, the new GOP Senate leaders were projecting the need for unity and cooperation with Trump.

“What we’re going to do is make sure we process his nominees in a way that puts him (Trump) in a position where he can implement his agenda,” South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the Republican leader of Senate, starting next year. , said Wednesday before Gaetz’s nomination was announced. “Obviously we’re going to look, we’re going to explore all the options to make sure they’re moved and they’re moved quickly.”

Still, the more controversial picks stand out from some of the more conventional Cabinet picks, such as Rubio, and could stir up some friction between at least some Republican senators and a president-elect who is arguably the leader of his party.

“When you have nominees like Marco Rubio, who’s going to get through the Senate with 90-plus votes, and then you have some of these people who are probably looking at party votes, it’s hard to tell,” an outside adviser. a member of the new Senate leadership team said when asked if some of the most controversial picks could be confirmed. “Some of these nominees certainly have more work to do than others.”

“I think (Trump) certainly feels empowered to seek and govern the way he ran, and in many ways this election reflects that,” the person added. “As a body, I think they will work closely together. They’ve achieved a lot that they have to do in the next two years, hopefully four years.”

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Some operatives played down the idea that Trump was challenging Senate Republicans, arguing that Trump was merely pushing for his administration to be staffed after being elected by voters eager for change.

“He’s not looking at it like, ‘I’ve got to find common ground with these guys.’ It’s that “these are my choices”. It’s not like he dares them. He says, ‘These are the ones I want, people told me to come in and make changes, and I’m going to do it,'” said Sean Spicer, Trump’s first press secretary.

Trump could also go around the Senate — before the leadership election, he insisted that Republicans should give him the ability to make temporary appointments while Congress is out of session, a request which the GOP majority in the Senate quickly agreed with.

But if Trump were to put his nominees through the usual confirmation process, he would be asserting his dominance within the Republican Party and generally want GOP unity against dismaying some lawmakers with some of his more controversial picks.

“He’s definitely saying, ‘I’m in charge.’ I won the popular vote. We won the Electoral College and we have to be united,” said Martha Zoller, a conservative radio host who served as a Republican Senate adviser during Trump’s first primary. term.

Still, Zoller said, “I think there’s going to be more than one of these nominees that we could go to pick No. 2”.

Trump ‘challenges’ Republican senators with controversial Cabinet picks: ANALYSIS originally appeared on abcnews.go.com