Donald Trump's nominees for high-level government roles have run into some resistance among Republican senators, but a political strategist said there may be so many controversial picks that most of them will sail through to confirmation.
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth appears to have regained momentum despite a series of reports about his past drinking, sexual misconduct and bigoted statements, while new concerns have cropped up about national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, but GOP strategist Matt Gorman told CNN that the Senate majority wouldn't block all of Trump's picks.
"Look, there's strength in numbers right now," Gorman said. "Ten days ago, right after Thanksgiving, [FBI nominee] Kash Patel was the one in the proverbial hot seat, then it was Pete Hegseth. A couple days ago, it was Tulsi Gabbard. It's a shell game where who's getting the most attention at any one moment. In 2016 and 2017, Betsy DeVos, after Andy Puzder, who was the original labor secretary, dropped out. Betsy DeVos got almost all of that kind of left-wing attention, and Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins ended up voting against her."
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"Now, look, I think to the point in the opening, there are different kind of tranches to this," Gorman added. "I expect Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins to vote against at least one of these nominees – that doesn't mean they don't get confirmed. But let's also face that Susan Collins is up [for re-election] next year – or, excuse me, two years in Maine. She needs to have a little separation, so it's when you start getting into the Joni Ernst and the other people where this bleeds past that three-vote threshold, that it becomes a problem. We're not there yet on anyone as of right now."