A prominent Republican U.S. senator vowed Sunday that Congress would not give blanket approval to Donald Trump's controversial Cabinet picks ahead of Congress' confirmation process, as a leading Democrat questioned the qualifications of some of them to serve.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma predicted that lawmakers in the House will have tough questions, especially for former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who was chosen by the president-elect to be director of national security for his second administration.
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When asked on CNN Sunday morning whether he will vote for all of Trump's Cabinet nominations, Lankford did not answer directly, pointing to the Senate process of holding public hearings for nominees, which begins on January 3, ahead of Trump's confirmation on January 20 .
“Everyone will get a fair chance,” he said of the president-elect's list of favorite appointments.
Gabbard is facing a potentially rough ride in her Senate confirmation due to a number of questionable incidents from her career. These include spreading Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine, leading critics to wonder whether she might be a “Russian asset,” as well as her clandestine visit to Syria to meet the country's president, Bashar al-Assad . accused of war crimes, a trip that drew Republican criticism as an embarrassment and disgrace.
“We're going to have a lot of questions,” Lankford, the newly elected vice chairman of the Senate Policy Committee, told CNN's State of the Union show.
“She met with Bashar al-Assad, we want to know what the purpose was and what the direction was for that as a member of Congress. We want the opportunity to talk about previous comments she's made and put them in full context.
He added: “So there are definitely comments floating around, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story.”
Lankford's comments came at the end of a week in which Trump's top pick for attorney general, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, fell amid sexual misconduct allegations that drew opposition from some Republican senators and made it unlikely that he would win enough votes for confirmation by the incoming Republican majority.
Other Trump picks under scrutiny include Fox TV host Pete Hegseth, the nominee for defense secretary who was the subject of a sexual assault investigation in 2017, and Robert F Kennedy Jr, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine skeptic who was asked for Minister of Health.
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Lankford also suggested that Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, who was chosen this week by the president-elect in place of Gaetz, should set aside her pledge to seek legal retribution against Trump's political enemies if she is confirmed.
Of the role, Lankford said: “It's America's lawyer. It's not the president's lawyer. It is very important that we fulfill this role well, and that they actually focus on reducing crime in America.”
In addition to open hearings, Lankford said of Trump's nominees: “We're going to sit down with them in our offices, we're going to have a chance to talk.”
Illinois Democratic senator and combat veteran Tammy Duckworth, meanwhile, told CNN's State of the Union that Hegseth and Gabbard were both unqualified or unsuited for the roles Trump wants them to fill.
“He never commanded a unit, he never commanded a company, let alone battalions, brigades or entire armies. He was a platoon leader,” Duckworth said of Hegseth, a retired major in the Army National Guard.
“He served at a very low level in the military, and we're talking about an organization of 3 million service members, military and civilians, and a budget of over $900 billion. He doesn't have the experience to lead an organization of that size.”
Duckworth also strongly disagreed with Hegseth's opposition to allowing women to remain in combat roles, following a long-fought battle for greater equality in the U.S. military. She added that she was “troubled” by claims that Gabbard was a Russian asset.
“We are very concerned about whether or not she is a compromised person. “The U.S. intelligence community has determined that she has a problematic relationship with America's enemies, and my concern is that she cannot pass a background check,” she said.
Oklahoma's other Republican senator, Markwayne Mullin, a vocal Trump ally, also appeared at State of the Union and gave his unqualified support to all of the president-elect's choices.
“The president has done this job before. He knows exactly what he needs. He knows who he wants to put in those positions,” he said.
“That's why he's been able to move quickly, because he knows he has four years to achieve the mandate that the American people say they want, and for the administration to move in a different direction. These nominations will give him that.”
