D.C. Memo: Washington abuzz over Trump’s cabinet nominations

WASHINGTON – Members of the U.S. House and Senate returning to Washington, D.C., this week after weeks of recess were plunged into Trump world as the president-elect’s nominations dominated his return.

Few had qualms about the selection of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, as secretary of state or Rep. Mike Waltz, R- Florida, as national security advisor.

But that was not the case with Donald Trump’s choice of retired Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, for U.S. attorney general; former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, R-Hawaii; as director of national intelligence and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.

And on Thursday, another political bombshell exploded with Trump’s selection of anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse Trump.

Concern about these nominees is bipartisan, although a majority of Republicans seem to be willing to voice support for these controversial choices. But GOP defections could rule the day when it comes to the future of some of Trump’s nominees.

The news of Gaetz’s nomination reportedly elicited gasps from his GOP colleagues, who were cloistered in a room in a Capitol Hill Hyatt hotel on Wednesday to select new GOP House leaders for the next Congress. (Mostly, the lineup of current leaders, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, won reelection).

When he ventured out of the room for a break, Emmer said “it will be great” about Gaetz’s appointment. He didn’t seem totally convinced, but later posted “@RepMattGaetz will be an outstanding Attorney General of the United States. Congratulations, Matt!!”

Trump announced his choice of Gaetz as attorney general just as the House Ethics Committee was about to release findings of its investigation into allegations against Gaetz of sexual misconduct, personal use of campaign funds, accepting impermissible gifts under House rules, sharing pornographic images on the House floor and other transgressions.

“I think like a lot of people I was surprised. I had not heard Matt’s name come up before today,” House Ethics Committee Chairman Michal Guest, R-Mississippi, told MinnPost just after news of Gaetz’s appointment broke. “There’s a confirmation process that needs to go forward so if there are any problems with this nominee or any others it will be ferreted out in the confirmation process.”

Trump’s nominees must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in the next Congress, setting up a test for that chamber, which has flipped to GOP control.

With a slim 53-member Republican majority, some nominees may falter if just a few Republicans join unified Democrats in derailing a nomination.

So, we’ll be hearing a lot about the likelihood of “recess appointments.”

With a recess appointment, the president can bypass the Senate confirmation process when the chamber is in recess or on a break from official proceedings. But anyone who wins office through a recess appointment can only serve until the end of the Senate session, which would be about two years.

Also on Wednesday, Senate Republicans rejected Trump-favored Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, as well as Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to choose Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, as senate majority leader. 

Thune has avoided saying whether he’d allow recess appointments to go forward and repeatedly said he prefers to adhere to normal procedures. 

“We’re going to vet and process and look at all the (nominations) when they come forward and we’ll see. That’s all going to happen in the next few weeks,” he told CNN.

Lipstick on a pig  

Democrats are divided about why the party suffered losses in last week’s election, and that rift was apparent among Minnesota Democrats this week.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4^th District, pointed to gains Democrats made in the House, which The Associated Press on Thursday declared was won by the GOP.

The AP determined Republicans will continue to control the agenda in the House because, by its count, it has already won a majority of House seats, 218.

But McCollum predicted that the results in the eight outstanding House races will give the GOP a much narrower majority than the slim one it has now and that Democrats may have gained a few seats when the dust is settled.

“They are going to need us to pass their bills,” McCollum said of Republican leaders, pointing to the number of times House Speaker Mike Johnson had to reach out to Democrats in this Congress to pass vital legislation.

McCollum also said Vice President Kamala Harris did not falter in her messaging, but simply did not have enough time during a 100-day campaign to complete the job of winning voters.

McCollum also credited Harris for swelling the Democratic ground game, which helped Democrats win House seats across the nation.

And she also said it was time to end handwringing over last week’s results. “I’m not reflecting on the past anymore, we’re moving forward,” McCollum said.

Meanwhile, centrist Democrats were more critical of the messages the Harris-Walz campaign adopted.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-2^nd District, who represents a swing district and campaigned on disagreements with her party’s position on immigration, student loan forgiveness and other issues, said she rejects Democratic efforts to put a positive spin on the election results.

“I’m not going to even try to put lipstick on that pig,” she said.

Another centrist, retiring Rep. Dean Phillips, D-3rd District, echoed Craig’s sentiment that the Democratic Party must do more to listen to voters’ concerns. “We have lost touch with the core of America,” Phillips told Newsweek.

In case you missed it:

• Ava Kian got some reaction from former students of VP candidate Tim Walz who volunteered with the Harris-Walz ticket – and found inspiration despite the Democratic ticket’s loss.

• We reported on U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer’s reelection as House majority whip and what figures to be a challenging job for him in a fractious GOP caucus.

• At the state level, Peter Callaghan reports on election reporting errors in two Minnesota counties – a snafu that one GOP leader called “intolerable and unacceptable.”

• Finally, Cityscape columnist Bill Lindeke opines about Donald Trump’s election and what it might mean for American cities.

Your questions and comments

A reader weighed in on a story that looked at how Democratic Rep. Angie Craig, considered the most vulnerable of Minnesota’s federal lawmakers, won a landslide reelection. The story said her bucking of the Biden administration on several issues, including the definition of a protected wetland, resonated with GOP-leaning voters.

“Here’s a candidate who represented her farming constituents’ concerns, and was rewarded with their votes. Confusion over what is a protected waterway is a well-chosen concrete example,” the reader said.

Another (male) reader responded to stories about the gender gap that hurt Vice President Kamala Harris because male voters  favored Donald Trump.

“Men are continuing to lose their favorable treatment,” the readers said. “Globally, women have proven that they have what it takes to be political leaders, but a lot of men will never vote for a woman and never be honest [about] why.”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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