By Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal | December 03, 2024
All of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for federal government posts will be confirmed, Sen. Ted Cruz said Tuesday after a conference with his fellow Senate Republicans.
“I think Kash Patel will be confirmed, and I think the rest of them will be confirmed,” Cruz, R-Texas—a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will vote on Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director—told The Daily Signal.
However, some Republicans have reportedly been noncommittal regarding Trump’s nomination of Patel and toward Pete Hegseth, tapped to be the defense secretary.
That marks a departure from 2021, when several of President Joe Biden’s nominees managed to get the votes of 20 or more Republican senators, along with unified Democratic support.
“You’re going to see Democrats and the media try to turn at least a couple of these confirmation hearings into a circus, and they’re going to throw as much mud at the wall as they can,” Cruz warned. “But at the end of the day, I think we’re going to see all of them confirmed. And I think the president has a mandate, a powerful mandate for change. The voters spoke overwhelmingly on Election Day and gave us a Republican president and Republican Senate, a Republican House.”
The GOP will have a 53-to-47 seat Senate majority in January. Nevertheless, Trump already suffered a setback when his first choice for attorney general—now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.—had to step aside when it became clear he lacked unified GOP Senate support. Trump has since announced he would nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to run the Justice Department.
At the Republican senators’ gathering at the Library of Congress, Trump phoned in to welcome the senators, said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
“I think that we’re pretty unified, and I think that, broadly speaking, that members think that President Trump should be given wide latitude, particularly since he ran on a reform agenda,” Schmitt, also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told The Daily Signal. “He wants reformers inside those agencies, and I think that’s really important.”
“Everybody’s pretty unified in trying to move an agenda that’s reflective of where the country is,” the Missouri lawmaker said. “So, I think the country is ready for some real reform, border security, energy dominance, [and] making sure that we have an economy that works for working families.”
Still, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, didn’t assert his absolute support for the Patel nomination.
“I’m anxious to meet with him,” Cornyn told The Daily Signal. “I haven’t met with him yet, but I’ve talked to people who I respect, and they believe he would be a good nominee.”
Biden’s Cabinet nominees generally received uniform Democratic support, and some of the nominees had significant GOP backing.
Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who has overseen the administration’s foreign policy, got his job with the help of 28 Senate Republican votes, confirmed 78-22. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen—a key player in Biden’s economic policies—was confirmed with an overwhelming 84 senators’ votes, of which 34 were from Republicans.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin—who has presided over some of the controversial military DEI policies—was confirmed with the help of 43 Republican votes, for a total of 92 senators. Only Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri voted against Austin.
Even Attorney General Merrick Garland—whose Justice Department has been scrutinized for alleged politicization and weaponization of the law—had the backing of 20 Senate Republicans.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., voted to confirm Blinken, Yellen, Austin, and Garland.
Others were far more controversial Cabinet picks. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra—known for promoting abortion policies and opposing conscience rights—got only one Republican vote, that of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas—impeached in the House for refusing to adequately protect the border—got six Republican votes for confirmation.
The moderate Collins is quoted in USA Today saying she wants the Senate to “thoroughly vet these nominees.” Even the more conservative Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is quoted in the newspaper as saying, “My attitude about the nominations is that that’s why God made confirmation hearings.”
Patel and Hegseth are being brought in as reformers, Cruz noted during his interview with The Daily Signal.
“This was a change election, and now we’ve got to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of turning the country around. And I think all of us are excited about that,” the Texas lawmaker said.
That’s key to the Patel nomination, Cruz said.
“You look at what President Trump campaigned on, and front and center. What the president promised the American people is ‘If you elect me, we will clean out the political corruption at the FBI and at the [Justice Department],’” Cruz said. “And I think nominating Kash Patel is honoring that promise.”
Schmitt, a former Missouri state attorney general, noted Patel’s law enforcement and national security credentials for the FBI job.
“I do think he’s got a lot of great, relevant experience,” Schmitt said. “He’s been the head of these intelligence agencies, was chief of staff at the Pentagon, has been prosecutor and public defender. So, a lot of experience in law enforcement. I think he’ll be great.”
Fred Lucas is chief news correspondent and manager of the Investigative Reporting Project for The Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.”
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