Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are arguably President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees. And they all faced the Senate on Thursday, January 30. Each in turn tried to walk back, put into context, or otherwise explain some of their most scandalous moments. Whether the often-heated back-and-forth of the confirmation hearings actually accomplished anything for the nominees, it did, at least, make good TV.
Ganging Up on Gabbard
Democrat-turned-independent-turned-Republican Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, faced the Senate Intelligence Committee on January 30 for about three hours in her first confirmation hearing. Over the last several years, Gabbard has been accused of being a Russian asset, colluding with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and – perhaps the most egregious to some of her detractors – wanting to pardon the famous whistleblower/infamous leaker (depending on one’s point of view) Edward Snowden. Each of these issues, of course, came up during the hearing.
While it’s quite common for a nominee to face scathing questioning from the opposing side, both Republicans and Democrats expressed their concerns over a few issues. She was questioned by both on her views of Edward Snowden and whether she would call him a traitor. The former Hawaii lawmaker has expressed support for the whistleblower/leaker in the past, calling for a pardon. In Thursday’s hearing, she tempered her support a bit but stopped short of calling him a traitor.
During the hearing, Snowden reshared a post from 2020, which read: “When a crooked politician calls me a traitor, ask yourself: who did I betray? The courts have ruled repeatedly that the programs I revealed were unlawful, and likely unconstitutional – a violation of your rights. If this is treason, what they call loyalty is a crime.”
Is Snowden a traitor? Gabbard was asked that multiple times by senators from both sides of the aisle. She did concede that he had broken the law – but she also pointed out that he revealed corruption that has since been the focus of reform. She refused to call him a traitor.
Others worried about her trip to Syria in 2017, a connection they propose could represent a threat to national security. Others still (mostly Democrats, this time) suggested she was a Russian asset, though Republicans largely dismissed that last allegation out of hand.
Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) says he plans to hold a vote on her nomination “as soon as possible.” There are eight GOP members on the panel and seven Democrats. If she loses a single red vote, she’ll fail to advance to the floor to be confirmed by the full Senate. Even if she does make it to that final vote, she can only afford to lose three Republicans, and she’s on shaky footing at best with some of them, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who expressed concern that Gabbard would petition for a pardon for Snowden.
Patel Parts With Trump on Pardons
Kash Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing to become the head of the FBI. Of the nominees examined that day, he was, perhaps, the most combative. Kash Patel has a long and well-documented history of criticizing the FBI and the DOJ in general, prompting Democrats to grill him over his previous statements even as Republicans praised him for his poise during the hearing.
Democrats brought up comments about January 6, his refusal to say that Trump lost the 2020 election, and the list of “deep state” executive branch officials in his book, Government Gangsters. But Patel fired back that each one of these was either false or, at least, taken out of context as “unfair smears.”
At one point, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told Patel to turn and look at the Capitol Police officers guarding the hearing room. “Tell them you’re proud of what you did,” Schiff said. “Tell them you’re proud that you raised money off the people that assaulted their colleagues, that pepper sprayed them, that beat them with poles.”
“That’s an abject lie, you know it,” Patel replied. “I never ,never, ever accepted violence against law enforcement.” This produced the first big break with Trump’s actions so far, as Patel argued that he didn’t agree with the president’s pardons for anyone who “committed violence against law enforcement.”
By the end of the hearing, Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa were praising Patel. Tillis said he had “exhibited composure” during the hearing and that his “knowledge of the subject matter” qualifies him for the job. “I think you did very well and your reputation leading up to and during this hearing, I think, proves that you’re a person that can stand a lot of heat, including a president telling you how to do your job,” Sen. Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chair, said in closing. Patel seems unlikely to garner much Democratic support – but he probably has the GOP locked down at least enough to win a simple majority.
RFK Jr. Returns to the Senate
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s pick to lead the HHS, already had one turn in the hot seat Wednesday when he faced the Senate Finance Committee, but he was back Thursday for more during a hearing with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. And it didn’t go any smoother on day two. The hearing wrapped up around 1 p.m. with senators from both parties still expressing concerns over Kennedy’s nomination.
Democrats hammered Kennedy on his vaccine skepticism, and a couple of Republicans seem to be questioning whether to support him or not as well. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chair of the Committee, said toward the end of the hearing that, while he likes Kennedy’s stance on issues like processed foods and obesity, the former Democrat has been using “selected evidence to cast doubt” on “proven treatments.”
“My concern is that if there is any false note, any undermining of a mama’s trust in vaccines, another person will die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” Cassidy said. The Louisiana lawmaker warned that he is still unsure whether to support RFK Jr.
Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski urged Kennedy to boost public confidence in vaccines, and Maine’s Susan Collins also questioned his fitness for the role.
Kennedy is another, like Gabbard, who may have some difficulty getting out of committee to a full floor vote. If he does make it that far, he’ll need to convince these three Republicans or risk relying on JD Vance as a tiebreaker – assuming he doesn’t lose any other GOP votes in the process.