Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary could face a "rocky ride" to confirmation over reports that he paid to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, according to reports.
The Fox News broadcaster and National Guard veteran paid the woman an undisclosed amount last year as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement, and Hegseth's attorney insisted the 2017 encounter was consensual and not sexual assault. But MSNBC's Joe Scarborough predicted some of Trump's nominees would face opposition from Senate Republicans.
"The fact is Donald Trump won the presidency, [and] Donald Trump can put the people in that he thinks will help him out the most," Scarborough said. "Again, Susie Wiles as chief of staff had a lot of people on the Hill going, 'Okay, not perfect that he is going to be the president, but this is somebody that brought order to the campaign structure at least, even if the campaign itself at times was far from orderly.'
"Again, the same thing with Marco Rubio, a lot of people in Washington, D.C., again, had a lot of different policy issues and debates with Marco Rubio but, at the same time, that was his selection and the people said, 'All right, well he is going to be the president and that is his prerogative.'"
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However, Scarborough said Hegseth, attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, and intelligence chief nominee Tulsi Gabbard might not be given a pass by GOP senators, although Trump wants Congress to go into recess so he can push through his appointees as acting secretaries to avoid confirmation hearings.
"Let's face it, just three picks right now that I think Senate Republicans are going to have real trouble with and, of course, you know, we have talked about one, but also Tulsi Gabbard and also the selection for [Department of Defense] which, of course, people on the inside and the Trump transition team know that the DOD selection is going to be a rocky ride."
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