Senators Signal Trump Nominees Gabbard, Hegseth Will Face Grilling in Congress

Both Democratic and Republican senators indicated on Nov. 24 that they plan to scrutinize President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to lead the Intelligence Community and the Pentagon.

Earlier this month, Trump nominated former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his director of national intelligence (DNI) and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defense. Senate confirmation is required for both positions.

“She met with Bashar Assad. We’ll want to know what the purpose was,” he said. “We’ll want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context.”

Also on Nov. 24, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) criticized Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, saying he is “unqualified” to lead the Pentagon and also raised concerns about Gabbard’s nomination for DNI.

“I do think that we have a real deep concern whether or not she’s a compromised person,” Duckworth said, referring to Gabbard’s meeting with Assad and her previous comments on Russia.

Related Stories

“They’ve got to get their background checks together. They’ve got to get qualified nominees,” Klobuchar said. “I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I’ve done in the past, and I can’t do that without the background checks.”

However, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) contended on CNN that Gabbard could easily pass a background check due to her service in the Army Reserve.

“There’s no document, there’s no background there for her to see, for anyone to see. She is a true patriot of the United States, and there’s no reason why the Democrats are going after her other than the fact they’re upset that she left their woke party,” he said, referencing Gabbard’s switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

When Hegseth is nominated to lead the Department of Defense after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, he is expected to be questioned about this matter.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) defended Hegseth to ABC on Nov. 24, calling him a “very talented individual” and dismissing the claims as mere “allegations.”

Hagerty suggested that Hegseth could help address recruitment and retention issues in the military.

“We have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military,” he said, noting that some military officials have expressed a desire to stay in the military due to Hegseth’s appointment.

“That’s the type of inspirational leader we need to see. Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real, significant change,” Hagerty said. “The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.”

Recently, Trump’s initial choice for U.S. attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew his nomination and announced he will not return to the House next year. Gaetz cited the ongoing House Ethics investigation into his conduct as a reason for his decision.

Prior to Gaetz’s withdrawal, several Republican senators expressed a desire to review the ethics report before making a confirmation decision. The president-elect then nominated attorney Pam Bondi as his new choice for U.S. attorney general.

Trump also named Scott Bessent, an investor and hedge fund manager, as his Treasury secretary and Russ Vought, a former Trump official, as his budget chief over the weekend.