President-elect Donald Trump has begun applying pressure to Republican senators in an attempt to ensure his Cabinet picks get confirmed.
In the past two weeks, Trump has announced over a dozen nominations to various Cabinet and federal positions, most notably tapping Republican former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida for attorney general. Although his candidates have the wholehearted support of the president-elect, the Trump transition team is doing the legwork to ensure Gaetz gets confirmed.
'They want someone who's gonna shake up Washington, D.C.'
Republicans took back the Senate majority this election cycle, flipping seats in West Virginia, Montana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. If Trump's nominees were to be confirmed during the next Congress, they would be able to afford to lose only three Republican votes, assuming that Vice President-elect JD Vance would also weigh in.
This leaves little wiggle room for nominees like Gaetz, prompting Trump's pressure campaign to secure GOP Senate votes.
Several senators have already expressed skepticism about Gaetz. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Gaetz was not a "serious nomination" and said she was "shocked" by the pick.
There has been a mounting effort, particularly from Vance, to persuade GOP senators who may have reservations about Trump's nominees. Earlier on Wednesday, Vance was spotted ushering Gaetz and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida around Capitol Hill, making their pitch to senators in the form of phone calls and closed-door meetings. Trump has reportedly even placed some of these calls himself to ensure Gaetz is confirmed.
These efforts have paid off in some respects. Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma came out in support of Gaetz despite historically being a critic of the nominee.
"I think the president wants a hammer at the DOJ, and he sees Matt Gaetz as a hammer," Mullin said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday.
"His picks have been maybe unconventional, but we hired an unconventional president," Mullin continued. "The American people wanted that. They don't want politics as usual. They want someone who's gonna shake up Washington, D.C."
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, a Trump ally, warned his own conference about voting against nominees like Gaetz.
"Republicans: If you're not on the team, get out of the way," Tuberville said following Gaetz's nomination.
“If you want to get in the way, fine," Tuberville continued. "But we’re gonna try to get you out of the Senate too if you try to do that."
The Trump transition team is facing an uphill battle with some of its nominees, but that has not deterred the president-elect.
Trump was asked by a reporter at Tuesday's SpaceX launch in Texas about whether he was reconsidering Gaetz's nomination.
Trump's one-word answer was, "No."
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Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida secured an endorsement from political heavyweights just moments before the GOP Senate conference is set to vote for a new leader.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas joined GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee in making a last-minute endorsement for Scott. Scott has also been endorsed by Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
"This morning, I’ll be voting for Rick Scott for GOP Leader, as I did two years ago," Cruz said in an X post ahead of the vote. "In 2022, I helped lead the charge for Rick against McConnell & I’m proud to stand with him again. For 12 yrs, I’ve been unequivocal that we need to change GOP Leadership—and now we finally will."
'Rick Scott’s approach is also the most closely aligned with and focused on helping President Trump enact his legislative agenda, which is supported by more than 75 million American voters.'
Scott is running alongside Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas in the race to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Of the three candidates, Scott has the most public endorsements.
Lee hosted a forum Tuesday night ahead of the Wednesday morning leadership vote in order to give all three candidates the opportunity to make their final pitch to the Republican conference.
"While I personally like all three leadership candidates and consider them friends—and while each offers a unique set of skills, experience, and plans that could prove useful to the Senate and the American people—Rick Scott stands out as the most aggressively reform-minded candidate," Lee said in an X post after the forum.
"Rick Scott’s approach is also the most closely aligned with and focused on helping President Trump enact his legislative agenda, which is supported by more than 75 million American voters," Lee continued.
Lee also praised Scott for standing up to McConnell in the past, contrasting with Thune and Cornyn, who better fit the leadership mold.
"Rick Scott has consistently called out abuses of the Senate GOP leader position in the past—even when it was difficult and at times politically costly to him," Lee said after the forum. "This is yet another reason to support him."
The votes are set to begin Wednesday morning and will be conducted via secret ballot.
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Although most U.S. senators are tight lipped ahead of the vote for Republican leader, many influential figures online are starting to put their thumb on the scale.
Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, and Rick Scott of Florida are going head-to-head in the race to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday. As of now, only nine senators have made public endorsements.
Despite this uptick in support for Scott, President-elect Donald Trump has not yet endorsed any candidate, and it is unclear if he plans to.
Thune has secured the backing of Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Cornyn has so far gained one endorsement, from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Scott has the largest public backing, with Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio from Florida, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Unlike his competitors, big players outside of D.C. have also come to bat for Scott.
Over the weekend, Scott racked up endorsements from politicos and media personalities like Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamay, and Charlie Kirk.
"What the hell is going on in the US Senate?" Carlson asked in a post on X. "Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on."
"One of them, John Cornyn, is an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s," Carlson continued. "The election is Wednesday, it’s by secret ballot, and it will determine whether or not the new administration succeeds. Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don’t let McConnell get away with it again."
Despite this uptick in support for Scott, President-elect Donald Trump has not yet endorsed any candidate, and it is unclear if he plans to. At the same time, Trump has put forth a standard he expects the senators to follow, should they be elected leader.
On Sunday, Trump declared that any Republican leader must support recess appointments, which would allow the president to appoint an individual to a federal office without a Senate confirmation. This would greatly reduce the glacial pace of Senate confirmations and strengthen Trump's ability to staff federal offices with candidates of his choosing.
That being said, Republicans are fairly insulated from external pressures throughout this process. For one thing, on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is set to hold a forum behind closed doors where the three candidates can privately make their pitches to their conference. The morning after, the Republican conference will vote for the GOP leader with secret ballots.
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Some Republicans are signaling that they will not support a border-related proposal that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated will be pushed again this week.
The measure failed to advance earlier this year when it had been packaged together with other items such as Ukraine aid, but now, it will be revived a standalone proposal.
'The fake border bill will fail, again, because it does nothing to seriously secure the border—just cement outrageous levels of illegal immigration.'
"This week, the Senate will return to the pressing issue of our nation's border security," Schumer wrote in a dear colleague letter posted on X. He said that "the Senate is prepared to take up the bipartisan Border Act as a standalone measure this coming week."
— (@)
House GOP figures, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik said in a statement that the measure "would be dead on arrival" if it were to get to the House.
"For more than three years now, Congressional Democrats have stood by while the Biden Administration has opened our borders to criminal drug cartels, terrorists, and untold millions of illegal immigrants. Now, Leader Schumer is trying give his vulnerable members cover by bringing a vote on a bill which has already failed once in the Senate because it would actually codify many of the disastrous Biden open border policies that created this crisis in the first place. Should it reach the House, the bill would be dead on arrival," the four House Republican lawmakers said in a statement.
"If Schumer cares about the border He should tell Biden to enforce the law," GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah tweeted in a post on his @BasedMikeLee X account. "Biden already has authority to fix it," he continued. "The bill Schumer’s pushing this week Would make matters worse," he added. "A lot worse."
"The fake border bill will fail, again, because it does nothing to seriously secure the border—just cement outrageous levels of illegal immigration," a post on Lee's @SenMikeLee X account reads. "Ironically, some Democrats will vote against it, because even pretending to limit illegal immigration is a step too far for them."
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