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Confirmation hearings for President Trump’s appointees and nominees will begin as early as next week, with Pete Hegseth and Pam Bondi set to appear before the Senate on January 14.
From The New York Post. Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth and Attorney General pick Pam Bondi will be the first two cabinet nominees of President-elect Donald Trump to sit for confirmation hearings by Senate committees next week.
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Lawmakers will grill the 44-year-old Hegseth, who is expected to still have the requisite votes for confirmation, and Bondi, 59, before the Armed Services and Judiciary Committees, respectively, starting Jan. 14.
“I’m enthused with her work as Attorney General of Florida and what she’s done as a prosecutor,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told Fox Business Network Friday of Bondi. …
“There’s one thing that can speed up her nomination, and that is if the transition team that we’re working with of the new Trump administration would get the background investigations and the other paper — particularly the ethics reports that we ought to have,” Grassley added.
“We don’t have any of that paper yet. I want to get it so I can schedule her hearing for the 14th.”
Hegseth’s hearing will also be held that day, an Armed Services Committee rep confirmed.
Republicans can only lose four votes from their own conference before a nomination is in peril, given their 53-47 majority in the Senate. …
Hegseth is likely to be the toughest of the Trump picks to be confirmed, though sources previously told The Post that “zero” Republicans are knives out for the former Fox News personality in private — despite several expressing reservations publicly.
Trump, 78, has stood by Hegseth despite concerns about his past alleged personal and professional misconduct — including his tenure at two veterans advocacy groups where he was accused of mismanaging finances and binge drinking on the job.
Several former senior employees — including a trustee of one of the groups, Concerned Veterans for America — categorically denied the allegations, which were put forward by anonymous whistleblowers, and threw cold water on claims that Hegseth was forced out of his position due to appalling conduct. …
Bondi, who served two terms as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019, is likely a shoo-in for her position, with one GOP aide referencing her “impressive credentials” and noting she was “significantly qualified for this role.” …
After Bondi, Grassley anticipated that FBI Director-designate Kash Patel, who has received a warm welcome from Senate Republicans, will be the next nomination to come before the Judiciary Committee.
Grassley said he looked “very favorably” on the 44-year-old FBI boss-in-waiting — and expects Patel will be confirmed following Bondi. …
Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins is also readying herself for a confirmation hearing to take place Jan. 15, Politico reported Monday, adding that former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin’s nomination to helm the Environmental Protection Agency will be considered sometime next week by the Senate’s Environment and Public Works panel. …
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(Excerpt from The New York Post. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121269112)