WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees appear to be on a glide path to confirmation in the Senate, despite early hesitation about several controversial picks.
On Tuesday, two Senate panels advanced national intelligence director nominee Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with the help of key Republican senators considered swing votes who could have blocked their candidacy. Their votes clear the way for what is likely to be an easier path forward in the full Senate.
It follows the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth late last month, who was approved despite being dogged by allegations of sexual assault, domestic abuse and alcohol abuse, all of which he denies.
It's a far cry from three months ago, when Trump's first nominees – including Gabbard, Kennedy, Hegseth, and Matt Gaetz for attorney general – ricocheted through a Republican conference that had serious questions about their qualifications.
"I was shocked at the nomination," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said about Gaetz shortly after he was nominated. "Obviously it warrants a great deal of scrutiny by the Senate."
In the intervening months, Trump's allies aggressively lobbied senators who appeared to be on the fence, at times threatening to primary them if they stood in the way of his nominees.
So far, only Gaetz dropped out when it became clear he would not get enough support to pass the Senate, which Republicans control 53-47.
"They want to do what’s right," Trump said Tuesday of the senators he had personally called about his nominees. "We’ve had a good response. I think we’ll do well.”
The extent of that campaign was made clear Tuesday when multiple Republican senators with concerns over Gabbard and Kennedy's nomination announced that they would support Trump's picks.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., cast the deciding vote to advance Kennedy through the Senate Finance Committee. Cassidy is a doctor, a strong advocate for vaccines – and a senator up for reelection in deep-red Louisiana in 2026.
Cassidy had been publicly grappling with whether he could support Kennedy, who has long cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Cassidy said on the Senate floor: "The science is credible. Vaccines save lives. They are safe. They do not cause autism. There are multiple studies that show this."
But he added that Kennedy reassured him he would not undermine the public's trust in vaccines and that the two would have an "unprecedentedly close, collaborative relationship," meeting multiple times per month.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., was in a similar position on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Gabbard, a former House member from Hawaii, would not say during her confirmation hearing whether Pentagon leaker Edward Snowden was a traitor. She also met with Syria's recently toppled authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and has been accused of sympathizing with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Young said he spoke with Trump about the decision, and "he said vote your conscience."
"I told him I needed reassurances, and those were delivered," he said. Both Cassidy and Young said Vice President JD Vance, their former Senate colleague, also played a key role in changing their minds.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, two other potential swing votes on Gabbard, said she had addressed their concerns privately.
Young said during his conversation with Trump, there was "never an intimation that there would be a problem" if he voted against Gabbard. But Trump ally Elon Musk called Young a "deep state puppet" in a post on X on Sunday before deleting it and calling him a "great ally."
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a combat veteran and a sexual assault survivor, was skeptical of Hegseth, who has been accused of sexual assault and who has opposed women serving in combat roles (he has denied the allegations and said he changed his mind on women's roles in the military.)
Iowa Republicans and Trump allies threatened to mount a primary challenger to her 2026 re-election campaign if she didn't change her mind. A group backed by Musk funded ads against her. In January, she said he had addressed her concerns.
Trump allies have similarly threatened to support primary challengers against Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.
Democrats, who are in the minority in the Senate and can do little to block nominees if Republicans are unified, have called Trump's nominees "dangerous, erratic, and highly unqualified." They are reportedly planning to delay the confirmation votes in retaliation for the new administration's move to shut down USAID.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is the top Democrat on the Finance Committee that advanced Kennedy's nomination Tuesday. He said he will "pull out all the stops on the floor to fight" his nomination.
Asked whether his Republican colleagues might decide to stop him after all, Wyden said that officials from Samoa said Kennedy lied during his confirmation hearing about his previous comments on measles in the country. "I think senators are going to pay attention to that," he said.
But, Wyden noted: "Obviously it is a challenging political time."
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