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    • Trump tests Republican senators with controversial cabinet picks
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    Trump tests Republican senators with controversial cabinet picks

    Online Niel Posted on

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    WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump is setting a test for the new Republican-led Senate on controversial cabinet appointments. They are getting ready to keep up.

    Trump stayed out of the high-stakes House Republican leadership election Wednesday, in which U.S. Sen. John Thune, RS.D., emerged victorious, despite Trump allies backing U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. .

    But Trump made only one request: That the next Senate GOP leader agree to “pause appointments,” in which the chamber would adjourn and allow his appointments to be approved temporarily without a difficult confirmation process.

    On Wednesday afternoon, it became clear why.

    Trump has announced several controversial cabinet nominees, including a Democrat-turned-Republican Tulsi Gabbard for national intelligence director and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for the secretary of defense, both outside the traditional pattern for appointees to their respective positions.

    But it was the nomination of the Florida representative. Matt Gaetz for the Attorney General that most surprised the Republican senators who will be responsible for confirming Trump’s nominees.

    Member of House Firebrand – known for leading a cohort of right-wing members who voted for removal Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who served as speaker last year — has been a staunch defender of Trump and a harsh critic of the Justice Department, which he would lead as prosecutor generic.

    The agency investigated him in a case of sex trafficking for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and paying for her to travel with him, which he strongly denied. The investigation ended without the agency filing charges, though House Ethics Committee continued a separate investigation until Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday — just days before the panel was to be established issue a critical report on it.

    The unusual choice immediately raised questions about whether Gaetz could pass the Senate confirmation process, which typically involves an FBI background check and public hearings before bipartisan committees with the power to request additional information about nominees.

    “I was shocked by the nomination,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “Obviously it deserves a lot of attention from the Senate.”

    A majority of senators must agree to approve nominees for them to be confirmed, and at the moment it seems unlikely that they will get support from enough GOP senators. Republicans will soon control the chamber 53-47.

    “Matt still has to come to the Senate and be confirmed, and a lot of these things are going to come up,” said U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who criticized Gaetz in the past, but he said further CNN on Wednesday that he has “complete” confidence in Trump’s decision. But asked if Gaetz has the votes to pass the Senate, Mullin said, “It’s going to be very difficult.”

    But most senators have indicated they will give in to Trump’s request to bypass the confirmation process — one of the House’s most important roles, meant to serve as a check on the president’s power — if Democrats block Trump’s nominees from going any further. away.

    Thune said “all options are on the table” to quickly confirm Trump’s appointments. But he indicated Thursday that he doesn’t plan to jump straight to halftime appointments.

    Asked Thursday if he thought Gaetz could make it through the confirmation process, Thune said, “We don’t know until we start the process.”

    “That’s what we intend to do with him and all the other potential nominees,” he said. “We expect our committees to do their job and provide the advice and consent required by the Constitution.”

    Florida’s Scott told USA TODAY that all three leadership candidates have agreed to vacate appointments during Wednesday’s election. But U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who also ran for leader, said they haven’t discussed whether to give up that power if there isn’t enough Republican support for a candidate.

    “I think the preference is to do it through the normal process,” Cornyn said. “The only real question is whether (now Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are blocking nominees and preventing the president, whose mandate he received, from putting together the team he needs to carry out the functions of his office. “

    Still, Trump remains a clear power broker in the party, and few incumbent Republicans are willing to openly oppose him. He has an option he could try to exercise if the Senate doesn’t get his way.

    Trump has done it in the past threatened to use a constitutional power which no president has ever used before to adjourn Congress to fill his cabinet positions. But that would force senators to first pass the 60-vote threshold for adjournment, which would require Democratic support.

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