Gaetz withdrawal shifts spotlight to Hegseth, Gabbard, Kennedy

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) decision to withdraw from consideration to become attorney general has shifted the attention of Senate Republicans to the nominations of Pete Hegseth, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who find now find themselves newly exposed to an even harsher spotlight.

The trio of nominees come with their own extensive baggage and have been subject to questions and concerns from various corners of the Senate GOP conference, but had been shielded to a degree by the presence of Gaetz.

With the ex-Florida congressman out of the way, the focus once again shifts in their direction.

“Their reprieve is over,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said.

Senate Republicans have called for President-elect Trump’s Cabinet picks to be seated, but even some of his most ardent backers viewed Gaetz, a rabble-rouser in the House who has faced investigations from the Justice Department and House Ethics Committee, as uniquely problematic.

Still, whether Gaetz’s withdrawal helps or hurts Gabbard, Hegseth and Kennedy’s chances remains a major unknown.

Some Senate Republicans think the Gaetz nomination and eventual withdrawal will benefit the other three.

“Maybe Donald Trump got what he wanted out of it. It wouldn’t be the first time Donald Trump flew a trial balloon,” Cramer told reporters about the Gaetz experience.

“It’s sort of like Elon Musk flying a starship,” Cramer continued. “When the booster doesn’t come back right, he drops it in the ocean instead of in the chopsticks.”

Indeed, hours after Gaetz's announcement, Trump announced his next pick to lead the Justice Department would be Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who will likely be considered a far less controversial pick than Gaetz.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who is leaving the chamber at year’s end to become governor of Indiana, said the Gaetz nomination was “probably pushing the envelope and it didn’t surprise me that it ended up like it did here today.”

But he said he didn’t view Gabbard, Hegseth or Kennedy in the same way.

“I think there was too big of a portfolio that Gaetz brought to the discussion. I don’t see that with the other three. … It’s mostly because they’re unconventional, and I’d say if anything would describe a Trump approach, it would not be conventional,” he added.

Despite their nature as “disruptors,” as senators widely view them, the other nominees have their own pitfalls.

Hegseth, Trump’s choice to lead the Pentagon, is perhaps the biggest question mark after he was accused of sexual assault in 2017. He told reporters “the matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared and that’s where I am going to leave it.”

“I’m eager to hear more about that,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) when asked about the allegations. “I think all of these nominees are entitled to a fair hearing, which means something other than just in the media, and the president deserves to have his team in place. But we have a job to do under the Constitution to provide advice and consent."

“I think that helps the president get his team properly vetted and so there’s no surprises later on,” he continued. “Allegations are not evidence, obviously.”

Hegseth, a former National Guard officer and former Fox News host, has also drawn concerns about his ability to lead an agency as large as the Defense Department.

Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, and Kennedy, who was nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, have expressed views on policy that are considerably out of step with Senate Republicans.

Gabbard, an ex-House Democrat who left the party in 2022, has raised eyebrows with past remarks on the war in Ukraine that seemed to echo the talking points of Russian state media. That’s flummoxed national security experts and given defense hawks and supporters of Ukraine in the Senate considerable pause.

Kennedy, the one-time independent presidential candidate, has been a vaccine skeptic and is in favor of abortion rights.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told The New York Times last week that she found some of Kennedy’s past statements “alarming.”

Gaetz’s decision Thursday to step aside caught senators off guard shortly before they were set to depart for the Thanksgiving recess.

However, they weren’t wholly surprised that he did not make it into the new year after the ex-congressman met with a number of Senate GOP members a day earlier as part of a charm offensive — a move that evidently did not move the needle.

Cramer told reporters that he would not have voted for him when push came to shove. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) also indicated that he would not have voted for Gaetz. Bad blood between the two has simmered dating back to Gaetz leading the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his position.

But members are calling on the rest of his Cabinet choices to avoid the pitfalls that ultimately befell Gaetz.

“Come up here and go through the gauntlet. You’ve got to sell yourself. … You’ve got to prove yourself,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a top Trump ally.

“Be yourself. Don’t come up here and try to be somebody that you’re not,” Tuberville continued. “[Gaetz] did that — and it probably didn’t work.”