Why 'terrified' GOP senators will likely confirm Trump’s most 'controversial' nominees

10 February

Although some of President Donald Trump's nominees enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Senate confirmation votes — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — others were confirmed along bipartisan lines.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth didn't receive a single Democratic vote, and three GOP senators joined Democrats in voting against him. But a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance got Hegseth, controversy and all, confirmed by a U.S. Senate consisting of 53 Republicans and 47 senators who are either Democrats or independents who caucus with Democrats (including Vermont's Bernie Sanders and Maine's Angus King).

If all senators on the Democratic side vote against a Trump nominee, four GOP defections are needed. And three of Trump's most controversial nominees — Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for national intelligence director, and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for director of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — appear to be on track for confirmation.

According to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, GOP senators are facing intense pressure to confirm Trump's nominees — not only from Trump himself, but also, from Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X.com (formerly Twitter) and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"GOP senators are terrified over the prospect of facing primary challengers funded by Elon Musk if they stick their necks out by opposing President Trump's agenda," Bolton reports. "The White House has signaled that Republicans who thwart Trump's agenda by voting against his controversial nominees or opposing efforts by Musk to freeze government funding and slash federal agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, will pay a political price. And that's a threat that carries a lot more weight when Musk, the world's richest person, could easily pour tens of millions of dollars into a Senate Republican primary."

GOP senators, according to Bolton, "have taken Musk's warning to heart."

A GOP senator, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Hill that Senate Republicans "who are close to an election" are "voting for certain nominees" because they fear primary challenges.

The senator told The Hill, "The White House hasn't been too subtle about that. I think they've been fairly threatening."

A Democratic senator, also quoted anonymously, said of Musk, "They're all terrified of the power he's wielding right now."

Read The Hill's full article at this link.

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