Confirmation hearings open in test of Trump’s hold on Republican Senate

The battle over President-elect Donald J. Trump’s Cabinet picks will escalate this week with Senate confirmation hearings for more than a dozen potential nominees, who will face a barrage of questions from Democrats hoping to get Republicans to drop at least a few nominees.

The most high-profile and potentially contentious hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, when the Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to consider the expected nomination of Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and combat veteran, to be secretary of defense. Senate committees have also set up public reviews of attorney general picks and those chosen to lead the State, Treasury, Homeland Security, Energy, Interior, Transportation and Veterans Affairs departments and the CIA, among others.

Despite criticism about the background and experience of some of his chosen ones, Mr. Trump urged Senate Republicans to remain united and quickly turn over the team he picked in the early days of the administration. How the GOP responds will be an early test for the relationship.

Mr Trump and his Republican allies in the Senate would like to have at least some officials within hours of his swearing-in next Monday, but while top Republicans say they are committed to moving his election forward quickly, the chances of more than a few ready to vote are slim. on inauguration day.

“The president should get his team in place early, especially his national security team,” Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the other Senate Republican, said Sunday. “If Democrats try to delay the process, the Republican conference is prepared to work around the clock, including weekends and nights, to get them established.”

Mr Hegseth has faced intense scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct and heavy drinking, as well as his admission that he had reached a financial settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault at a Conservative convention in 2017. He has also come under fire for comments about limiting the role of women in the military and will come under pressure over his handling of two veterans’ advocacy groups that have run into financial trouble.

“Your past behavior and rhetoric indicate your inability to effectively lead this organization and properly support our members,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who sits on the committee, wrote to Mr. Hegseth last week in a 33-page letter with more than 70 questions for Mr. Hegseth.

After some initial discomfort, Republicans in the Senate became more confident about the prospects of Mr. Hegseth for confirmation because he personally visited the Senate offices to address Republican concerns.

“As people listen to him, I think they will have more confidence in his abilities,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota.

But Democrats on the committee are already sounding the alarm because they couldn’t see the FBI’s vetting of Mr. Hegseth — information that has so far been shared only with the commission chairman and a senior Democrat — and may not get the full picture of his past.

While confirmation hearings can produce drama, it’s rare for nominees to be defeated on the floor. Only one has been rejected in the past 36 years, when John Tower, a former Republican senator from Texas, fell short of votes for secretary of defense in President George HW Bush’s administration. Senators have traditionally tended to give presidents deference in choosing their top administration, and those who run into trouble usually withdraw before the vote.

Democrats intend to use the hearings to pressure the candidates on how they will deliver on GOP campaign promises to help the working class, while highlighting serious issues with the candidates in hopes of undermining Republican support.

“We want to show who they really are,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said in an interview. “Some of them carry a lot of baggage.”

While past presidents have been able to attract at least some Cabinet members on Day 1, Democratic resistance and the Senate’s byzantine rules will make achieving immediate confirmation of members of Mr. Trump’s team very difficult. Changes in confirmation procedures and intensifying biases around candidates have significantly reduced the chances of first-day approval even for those in the national security field.

For example, President Barack Obama saw six Cabinet nominees confirmed on January 20, 2009, while Robert M. Gates was tapped to serve as Secretary of Defense. Several others, including Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, were confirmed within days. At the time, candidates were theoretically subject to a threshold of 60 votes, which forced Mr. Obama and his predecessors to make selections that were more capable of jumping that obstacle.

In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules so that nominees for administration and judicial seats could be confirmed by a simple majority without the threat of a 60-vote requirement, allowing presidents to nominate nominees who could win party votes but increasing the chances of partisan division.

In 2021, Mr. Trump managed to secure two Cabinet confirmations on Jan. 20, filling the top defense and homeland security posts while Democrats cooperated in filling key national security posts for the new administration with military generals who boast significant experience.

President Biden managed to get only one senior official confirmed on January 20, 2021, when Avril D. Haines was approved as Director of National Intelligence. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was confirmed two days later, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on January 26. Democrats say the candidate they are most likely to open the way to this year is Sen. Marco Rubio, their Republican colleague from Florida, for secretary of state.

Part of the problem is that nominations can’t become official until the president takes office, meaning Mr. Trump can file formal documents only after he is sworn in. The Senate is allowed to hold hearings, but allowing potential nominees to speak requires some cooperation with Democrats.

Democrats are unlikely to give much help to candidates like Mr. Hegseth. Republicans would then have to hold committee votes and follow procedures that will also take time. Hearings are underway for other controversial candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of Intelligence.

Ahead of the hearing, Democrats and some Republicans objected to the proceeding because not all of the traditional ethics and financial paperwork was available. They also requested access to FBI background reports. Republicans have said they expect most of the requests to be met before any votes and intend to fulfill their duty of advice and consent.

“I think there is a real desire to resolve this as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Rounds. “But we will also do our job.”