Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s top-level nominees earned high marks this week following their hearings on Capitol Hill and appear poised for confirmation, but some of his less conventional picks have yet to have their hearings even scheduled and remain the subject of vocal opposition in the upper chamber.
Among the candidates who have not appeared yet and are most likely to struggle are Director of National Intelligence-designate Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The pair sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and 2024, respectively, but ultimately joined Trump’s camp in the 2024 election.
Gabbard has attracted scrutiny as a critic of the intelligence community’s surveillance activities and her past comments about now-ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Kennedy, meanwhile, has attracted concerns over his views on vaccines.
Gabbard
A former Hawaii Democratic member of Congress and war-zone veteran in the Middle-East, Gabbard rose to national prominence during her 2020 presidential campaign when she famously sparred with now-Vice President Kamala Harris over her record as a prosecutor.
She ultimately withdrew from the primary, left the party, and emerged as a favorite of the MAGA movement due in part to her views on rolling back American intervention in foreign conflicts. Gabbard joined the Republican Party during the 2024 campaign and helped Trump prepare for his debate with Harris.
After Trump tapped Gabbard to serve as DNI, Republicans expressed skepticism, including Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who noted “[s]he met with Bashar Assad. We’ll want to know what the purpose was.”
Gabbard visited Syria in 2017, where she met with Assad and later challenged categorizations of him as an enemy of the United States. Assad fled Syria in December amid a sudden assault from Islamist rebel groups based in the country’s northwest.
Another concern for lawmakers was her past opposition to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that permits the warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad. The provision has attracted scrutiny from privacy advocates over the potential to gather American information in the process.
Gabbard reversed course on Section 702 last week, saying it “is crucial for gathering foreign intelligence on non-U.S. persons abroad. This unique capability cannot be replicated and must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans.” She did, however, observe that she would protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights if confirmed.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy initially sought to wrest the Democratic presidential nomination from President Joe Biden, but later mounted an independent campaign citing frustrations with the Democratic National Committee.
Near the end of the election cycle, he dropped out of the contest and endorsed Trump, which led to the debut of “Make America Healthy Again” as a key campaign point. Kennedy has long advocated for removing harmful chemicals from American foods and working to improve the overall health of Americans.
Kennedy’s confirmation appears to be the most contentious of all Trump’s picks. Democrats have labeled him a “conspiracy theorist” or “Anti-Vaxxer” over his past writings critical of specific vaccines and the approval process. Some Republicans, meanwhile, have expressed reservations about appointing a pro-choice figure to a post with some regulatory authority over the practice.
This week, the would-be HHS secretary is meeting with key Democratic lawmakers on relevant health-related committees. He will likely have to account for intense opposition from American physicians, 15,000 of whom wrote an open letter against him last week.
“RFK Jr. Has a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation on vaccines and public health interventions, leaving vulnerable communities unprotected and placing millions of lives at risk,” they wrote. “His appointment is a direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large.”
Lower chamber Democrats, moreover, are preparing for his confirmation by forming a caucus of former medical professionals to contest his efforts. Rep. Kim Schrier, D., Wis., took the lead in forming the bloc, saying “[w]e’re going to need a lot of unity” to deal with him.
Republican doctors, however, have largely lined up behind him, including three in the Senate: GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy, La., a gastroenterologist; Rand Paul, Ky., an ophthalmologist; and Roger Marshall, Kansas, an obstetrician.
Paths to confirmation
Neither nominee has their post in the bag, but with their hearings unscheduled, they still have time to work behind the scenes to assuage Republican doubts. It is somewhat unclear how many votes they will need at a minimum, given the departure of Vice President-elect JD Vance from the Senate and expected confirmation of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state.
Republicans will nonetheless have a majority, however, as two vacancies would still leave them with 51 Republicans and 47 Democrats/independents. The timeline for Vance and Rubio’s replacement remains unclear. In any circumstance, Republican unity would be enough to push both over the majority threshold.
Kennedy’s popularity
So far, no Republicans have committed to opposing Gabbard, though several have not expressed support either. The same is true of Kennedy. No Republicans have confirmed their opposition, but many have not endorsed him.
Some polling has suggested that Kennedy ranks among the most popular of Trump’s high-profile nominees. A recent PBS News survey, conducted Jan. 7-9, found that 40% of the public had a favorable opinion of him, compared to 37% who viewed him unfavorably and 23% who were unsure. Those figures gave him higher ratings than Rubio, Elon Musk, and Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth. But he also had relatively high negative ratings, with only Musk beating him at 46% unfavorable.
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