At Vought's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, ranking member Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) grilled him over his actions at the agency during Trump's first presidency. Vought was first the deputy director and then the acting director of the OMB at that time.
Peters highlighted the OMB's "illegal" withholding of $214 million Congress appropriated to the U.S. Department of Defense to aid Ukraine. The senator went on to say the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined the OMB's actions under Vought's direction were a violation of federal law.
"Your past actions and public statements suggest that you may not follow this law in the future," Peters said. "If you are confirmed as OMB director again, do you commit to follow the law?"
Vought replied that he "will always commit to upholding the law." But he said he disagreed with the GAO's assessment of his actions and that his office did not "inappropriately" withhold funds. Instead, the money was released by the end of that fiscal year.
Nevertheless, Vought said Trump campaigned on the premise that the president should be able to direct the government to spend less than what was appropriated for a specific purpose.
As part of his Jan. 15 confirmation hearing ahead of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Vought said he is not "a person who has wanted to have government shutdowns."
His answer was in response to a comment made by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who said the former acting head of the OMB has "repeatedly called for brinkmanship around government shutdowns and opposed bipartisan deals to keep the government open."
Hassan cited an article from 2011 that, she said, quoted Vought as saying the GOP needs to be prepared to shut down the U.S. government if the political situation calls for it to demonstrate that the party is "playing to win."
"Why have you repeatedly advocated the use of the threat of a government shutdown as a political bargaining chip?" Hassan asked Vought during the hearing. "If confirmed, would you continue to favor a partisan agenda over keeping the government open?"
Vought said he wants to be part of the process that keeps the budgeting process moving quickly in order to avoid "pile-ups."
"I think the breakdown of the budget process here in Congress is something that has not been good, and I hope that it is brought back to a good degree and that we can have a bipartisan spending process, which I look forward to participating in, if confirmed," Vought said.
“Will you as attorney general investigate and make every effort to find those children and, if they are subject to abuse, get them out of those abusive situations that the federal government has put them into?” Cruz asked.
Bondi affirmed that she would.
On Jan. 15, Vought, who served as the OMB's deputy director from March 2018 to July 2020, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs as part of his confirmation process after being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the executive agency's director.
In his opening statement, Vought said he will work on building a better future for the United States.
Vought said 80 percent of Americans now believe their children will lead worse lives than they do, without citing a source. That, Vought said, is a significant increase from 40 percent of Americans who said they felt the same way 20 years ago.
"When I look at government waste and international debt, I know I fear for my daughter's future," Vought said. "Almost half of our fellow citizens expect their standard of living to be worse than that of their parents."
If confirmed, Vought said he would work to shape an executive branch budget and federal spending mindset that reforms regulations and coordinates policies across agencies to "ensure efficient and effective implementation of the American people's will."
Vought went on to say that Americans are dealing with higher prices and a lower standard of living due to inflation driven by "irresponsible federal spending." He said the average American household has lost about $2,000 in spending power since January 2021.
"The forgotten men and women of this country, those who work hard every day in cities and towns across this country, deserve a government that empowers them to achieve their dreams," Vought said.
"While the Office of Management and Budget may not be a household term, the agency's work profoundly impacts their lives."
Padilla peppered Bondi with questions about the 2020 presidential election, asking her if she would retract her previous statements that then-President Donald Trump won the state of Pennsylvania.
“You’re asking us to consider you to serve as a chief law enforcement officer in our country, so it’s imperative that you subscribe to facts and evidence and not politically convenient conspiracy theories,” the senator said.
As Bondi tried to elaborate on what she witnessed in Pennsylvania, Padilla repeatedly interrupted, telling her to respond “yes or no.”
Then, when Bondi later tried to interject, Padilla pointed at her and said, “I’m speaking.”
“You pointed your finger at me,” Bondi said. “Let me answer the question. I’m not going to be bullied by you.”
The fiery back-and-forth continued in that fashion until the senator’s time ran out.
Welch asked if she had any discussions with Trump on appointing a special prosecutor to go after President Joe Biden, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), or former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
Bondi replied no.
Welch asked if she had any discussions with the president-elect about prosecuting every member of the congressional Jan. 6 Committee.
She said no.
The democratic senator said that Bondi's answers satisfied his concerns.
“My understanding and listening to your answers to the questions along this line is that you have no intention … of pursuing people on the basis of them being a political opponent,” he said.
“No one will be prosecuted or investigated because they are a political opponent,” Bondi replied. “That's what we've seen for the last four years in this administration.”
The senator responded to her comment, saying that he disagreed with that description of the past four years, but his primary concern was to know that the Justice Department would not pursue political adversaries going into the next four years.
“Every case will be done on a case-by-case basis,” Bondi said. “No one should be prosecuted just for political purposes.”
“I'm very happy to listen to your responses under oath, Miss Bondi,” the senator said.
Hirono then cited a comment Bondi made on Fox News last year, in which she said bad prosecutors will be prosecuted and asked Bondi to identify them.
The senator specifically asked if former special counsel Jack Smith, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and Attorney General Merrick Garland would be prosecuted.
Bondi said she refused to answer hypotheticals, while Hirono talked over her, demanding a yes or no answer.
“No one has been pre-judged,” Bondi said. “Nor will anyone.”
While Taiwan has a de facto independent government, the CCP has long considered the island a part of mainland Chinese territory. Since the 1970s, the United States has affirmed a “One China” policy that formally recognizes the CCP-controlled People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate Chinese government and holds that Taiwan is a part of China.
Still, the United States has maintained informal ties with Taiwan and has insisted the territorial dispute be resolved peacefully. The United States has kept a position of strategic ambiguity as to whether it would intervene militarily to prevent the PRC from seizing Taiwan by force.
“You want to make the cost of invading Taiwan higher than the benefit. We want to discourage that by the Chinese believing that, yes, could they ultimately win an invasion of Taiwan, but the price would be too high to pay,” Rubio said.
He said deterring the CCP from ever pursuing an invasion is critical, not just to preserve Taiwan’s status but to avoid a U.S. military intervention, which he said would be cataclysmic for the Indo–Pacific region.
Rubio said that an invasion of Taiwan is not some distant hypothetical but a real objective of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“Unless something dramatic changes—like an equilibrium where they conclude that the costs of intervening in Taiwan are too high—we're going to have to deal with this before the end of this decade,” Rubio said.
He criticized the Biden administration for offering tax credits for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, suggesting it was an example of Washington, D.C., “insert[ing] itself in … the relationship between manufacturers and consumers.”
Moreno believes those policies benefit China, as the country struggles to compete with U.S. internal combustion engines.
“Instead, [China] decided to go all in on electric vehicles, and they've now convinced a lot of people here in this city that electric vehicles [are] the only path forward,” Moreno said.
He asked Duffy if he supports automakers producing cars that “consumers truly want and are truly demanding.”
Duffy said Americans “shouldn't be forced to buy cars that Washington wants.”
“We should go buy the cars that we want,” he said.
“I think there's room in this space for electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles, and might depend on your priorities, the places that you live, the temperatures of where you live, but I want to see a robust marketplace.”
Calling such threats an “invasion through our digital border,” Ratcliffe said the United States needs to impose greater consequences on nations seeking to violate the integrity of U.S. telecommunication and digital systems in order to deter future aggression.
The former director of national intelligence also agreed with a suggestion from Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) that it would be useful to develop a cyber deterrent strategy that mirrors systems used in other areas of national defense.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can “play a critical role in helping us delineate this,” Kim said.
“FAA is the one, the part, the entity, that allowed for night-flying drones.”
He asked prospective transportation secretary Sean Duffy if he agrees that the FAA should do more to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate drone usage, and if he’s willing to work with the committee to ensure that.
“I 100 percent agree with you, senator,” Duffy said.
He mentioned that his children were seeing drones over their house before the sightings became a media frenzy.
Duffy said the FAA needs smart rules for drones.
“We need transparency,” Duffy said. “What’s happening, who’s flying, and so [on].”
Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said that without clear FAA guidance, commercial drone companies are left with a “patchwork of waivers and exemptions” that stifles innovation and puts the United States further behind China.
He asked Duffy what the government could do to streamline meeting deadlines for giving regulatory guidance to drone manufacturers.
Duffy said unclear or overregulation creates an issue where companies pack up and move to a country where there is a “clarity of rules” and where they can test their products and continue innovation.
“I want to look at where we’re at in the rulemaking. But we can’t have a patchwork approach,” Duffy said. “We have to have clear rules to [go] beyond visual line of sight and make sure that this innovation continues to happen here.
“It has a potential of revolutionizing so many different things in the way our economy works; let's make sure it happens here.”
“They have elements that the Soviet Union never possessed,” the prospective incoming secretary of state said during a confirmation hearing Wednesday. “They are a technological adversary and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor.”
Rubio added that the regime poses an “extraordinary challenge” in every realm and that it’s one that “will define the 21st century.”
The United States has allowed Beijing to militarize island chains in the South China Sea and conduct human rights abuses, including the targeting of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, he said.
“For years, no one talked about it, which, by the way, not just has a human rights component to it. It allows them to use slave labor to produce goods at the expense of the rest of the world,” Rubio said.
“We've allowed them to get away with things, and frankly, the Chinese did what any country in the world would do, given these opportunities—they took advantage of it. And so I think now we're dealing with the ramifications of it.”
Rubio said, in less than 10 years, “virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not.”
He said that includes everything from blood pressure medication to "what movies you get to watch, and everything in between.”
The FACE Act “protected patients, providers, and facilities that provide reproductive health services,” the senator said. “Will you commit to continuing to enforce the FACE Act to address violence and threats against those providing reproductive health care services?”
Bondi affirmed that she would uphold the law. The FACE Act prohibits interference with obtaining or providing abortions, and pro-life groups and individuals have been prosecuted for attempting to stop pregnant women from getting an abortion.
“Senator, the FACE Act not only protects abortion clinics, but it also protects pregnancy centers and people going for counseling,” Bondi said. “The law should be applied even-handedly.”
Rubio said his views of the war changed as it appeared the fighting had reached a stalemate. He said President Joe Biden’s administration had failed to articulate a clear end goal for the conflict, leading him to ask: “What exactly were we funding? What exactly were we putting money towards?”
Rubio said, on many occasions, the Biden administration’s answer “sounded like: 'However much it takes for however long it takes.'”
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for negotiations to end the fighting. Rubio said such talks will require Russia, Ukraine, and the United States to be willing to make concessions.
While broadly supporting negotiations, Rubio expressed wariness at the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin will push to maximize Ukrainian neutrality while buying time for his forces to refit to resume the fighting at a later time.
“That's not an outcome I think any of us would favor,” Rubio said.
In Kansas, Spirit AeroSystems—a Boeing supplier—is one of the state’s largest private employers, Moran said. He asked Duffy what he would do at the Transportation Department to get Boeing “back in business.”
“Boeing is a national security issue,” Duffy said. “Boeing is the largest exporter of American product … they need tough love.”
He said he would work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure Boeing implements its safety plan, which the agency mandated last year.
“I [would] like to talk to the safety experts at the FAA to see where we're at and where we need to go to make sure we continue to advance safe airplanes being built at Boeing and exported around the world,” Duffy said.
“You have said that Department of Justice prosecutors will be prosecuted in the Trump administration,” Whitehouse noted. “What Department of Justice prosecutors will be prosecuted, and why?”
Bondi said her comments, made on TV, were regarding “bad" prosecutors” and investigators who do not follow the rule of law. As an example, she cited former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted to doctoring an email to help secure a FISA warrant to wiretap a Trump campaign aide.
“Will everyone be held to an equal, equal, fair system of justice if I am the next attorney general? Absolutely,” Bondi said. “And no one is above the law.”
“It’s facing a shortfall,” Fischer said. “Do you think that EVs should be paying into the Highway Trust Fund? Would you work to figure out a way to make this feasible?”
Duffy responded, “Absolutely.”
The prospective secretary of transportation said, “They should pay for [the] use of our roads; how to do that, I think, is a little more challenging, but I’d love to work with you in the committee to make that happen.”
Fischer then asked Duffy how he would work in the long term to sustain the Highway Trust Fund revenues so the Department of Transportation (DOT) can continue the nation’s growth of commerce and “continue to have a road system that works.”
Duffy said there are three immediate options: first, the DOT could increase the gas tax, which he doesn’t support; second, the government could increase tolling; third, it could use a mile-driven formula for those who aren’t paying gasoline taxes.
“My concern with that, though, is the privacy around the American citizens. So I think that's a conversation that will fall within the purview of this committee,” Duffy said.
“We could be far more efficient with our dollars. We could streamline the approach and get dollars into projects quicker.”
Duffy added that the Highway Trust Fund could be optimized long-term by “making sure there’s more available dollars, not for studies or consultants, but more for turning dirt.”
She told the senator that she has never had an "enemies list" as a courtroom prosecutor or as Florida’s attorney general.
He asked if she would hire anybody with an enemies list, to which she responded that he was talking about Kash Patel, Trump’s choice to lead the FBI. She said she did not believe Patel had an enemies list and defended Patel’s record as a prosecutor and his work in the intelligence department and Department of Defense.
She said Patel is the right person for the job.
“I'm questioning you about whether you will enforce an enemy's list that he announced publicly on television,” the senator asked.
“Oh, Senator, I'm sorry, there will never be an enemy's list within the Department of Justice,” she said.
Bondi told the ranking Democratic member that the ultimate decision falls on the president, and that she had not seen the case files on violent January 6 rioters. But she said she condemns any use of violence against a law enforcement officer, and if asked, she would look at each file and advise on a case-by-case basis.
Both President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have said violent individuals should not be pardoned.
“I think it’s very simple,” Vance said on Jan. 12. “If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and you’ve had [Attorney General] Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
Rubio argued that this post-Cold War position has seen the United States take on trade, immigration, and national security policies that have harmed Americans. While the United States has prioritized supporting this global order above its own interests, Rubio said other nations have taken advantage of the moment to pursue their own interests.
“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order, and they took advantage of all of its benefits, and they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities,” he said.
Rubio said Trump’s election win has shown that the U.S. public wants “a strong America engaged in the world, but guided by a clear objective to promote peace abroad and security and prosperity here at home.”
“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order, and they took advantage of all of its benefits, and they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities,” he said during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
“Instead, they have repressed and lied and cheated and hacked and stolen their way into global superpower status, and they have done so at our expense and at the expense of the people of their own country in our very own hemisphere.”
Rubio said “rogue nations” have used the post-war global order against the United States, which now has to confront “the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and of generational global crisis in the lifetime of anyone alive and in this room today.”
“We are once again called to create a free world out of the chaos,” he said. “And this will not be easy, and it will be impossible without a strong and a confident America that engages in the world, putting our core national interests, once again, above all else.”
“President Biden is the president of the United States,” Bondi replied. “He was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power. President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024.”
Durbin then pressed Bondi on whether she had any doubts that Biden won the election.
“Senator, all I can tell you as a prosecutor is from my firsthand experience,” she said. “And I accept the results. I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States.
“But what I can tell you is what I saw firsthand when I went to Pennsylvania as an advocate for the [Trump] campaign.”
Bondi said she “saw many things” on the ground in Pennsylvania that caused her concern.
“No one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country,” the attorney said.
“We should all want our elections to be free and fair and the rules and the laws to be followed.”
Durbin responded that the length of her reply indicated that she wasn’t “prepared to answer yes.”
“President Trump made an excellent choice. We need a principled, action-oriented chief diplomat like Marco. I hope we can work across the aisle to confirm him on day one,” said Risch.
Shaheen said she believes Rubio has “the skills and [is] well qualified to serve as secretary of state."
"But today, I want to find out a little more about what this administration is thinking about American foreign policy and the State Department in particular,” she said.
“I will work with all of you, as I have committed to do when I met with almost all of you,” Bondi said. “And I will partner not only with the federal agencies but with the state and local officials throughout our great country.
“I look forward to answering your questions today and working together for this country and our Constitution.”
He noted that Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who fled communism and highlighted the senator’s work in holding communist regimes such as China to account for their abuses.
Rubio has been outspoken about socialism in Latin America, including in Cuba, whose U.S. designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was lifted by the Biden administration this week.
“Pam was an incredible partner, working to keep Florida safe and help hold the laws of our state, ensuring crime is aggressively pursued by law enforcement and prosecutors,” Scott said.
“President Trump has made clear that one of his top priorities is to reverse the rising rates of crime, and specifically violent crime, that have plagued our communities over the past four years.”
The senator emphasized that, under Bondi, the Department of Justice “will actually fairly enforce the laws” of the nation and protect the rights of the American people.
He also praised her work to fight the opioid epidemic and human trafficking. He highlighted that during her tenure as state attorney general from 2010 to 2018, the state had a 26 percent drop in overall crime, a 19.6 percent drop in violent crime, and a 27.4 percent in property crime.
“As U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi will assure law and order to the nation,” Scott said. “She'll put Americans' interests first, make the nation a better and safer place. I urge every single member of this committee to support my friend, Pam Bondi.”
A copy of Bondi’s remarks, reviewed by The Epoch Times, indicates that she will emphasize “getting back to basics,” with a focus on prosecuting violent criminals, child predators, drug traffickers, terrorists, and illegal immigrants.
“The Department of Justice must also return to defending the foundational rights of all Americans, including free speech, free exercise of religion, and the right to bear arms. That is what the American people expect and deserve from the Department. If confirmed, I will do what it takes to make America safe again,” Bondi will say.
She is also expected to promise to restore the department’s integrity and bring an end to “the partisan weaponization” that many have voiced concerns about.
“Placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism,” Rubio plans to tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to an opening statement obtained by The Associated Press.
“It is the commonsense realization that a foreign policy centered on our national interest is not some outdated relic.”
Rubio will cite Trump’s election win as a mandate that the American public wants a country that’s strong and engaged in world affairs “but guided by a clear objective, to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home.”
Trump’s nominee also plans to declare that the global order established following World War II is obsolete and “is now a weapon being used against us.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bondi will be the first Trump nominee to testify on Wednesday, appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Here’s what to know about the former Florida attorney general:
- Bondi, 59, was the first woman to serve as the attorney general of Florida from 2011 to 2019.
- Bondi is the current chair of the America First Policy Institute Center for Litigation and co-chair of the think tank’s Center for Law and Justice.
- A longtime Trump ally, she endorsed him during his 2016 presidential bid over Sen. Marco Rubio, another Florida Republican.
- Bondi served on Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.
- She has also worked as a lobbyist for U.S. and foreign clients.
- Bondi accepted a $25,000 political donation from Trump’s foundation in 2013 while she was considering joining a fraud lawsuit against his Trump University company. Her later decision to forgo joining the suit prompted allegations of bribery, but a prosecutor found insufficient evidence to support those claims.
- At 9:30 a.m., lawmakers will speak to Pam Bondi, Trump’s choice for U.S. attorney general and a replacement for his initial nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. Both Democrat and Republican senators could ask Bondi about the so-called weaponization of the Department of Justice.
- Sen. Marco Rubio will be in one of multiple hearings at 10 a.m. The secretary of state nominee's hawkish stance on China and long tenure in Washington could make for a relatively smooth confirmation process. Democratic Whip Dick Durbin has already pledged to vote for the Senate Intelligence Committee veteran.
- Also at 10 a.m., Trump’s selection for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, will appear for a nomination hearing. Like Rubio, he is one of the less controversial nominees. His concerns with Chinese espionage and his support for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are among the topics that could come up.
- Senators may grill Chris Wright, Trump’s prospective energy secretary, over his background in fracking and criticism of certain climate policies. While his hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m., Democrats and an independent on the committee slated to hold the hearing have sought to postpone it.
- Sean Duffy is slated for another 10 a.m. hearing. Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Transportation could be questioned about the state of American road infrastructure as well as labor tensions involving the country’s longshoremen, a group the president-elect has courted.
- At 1 p.m., members of the Senate will hear from Russ Vought, who is set to reprise his first-term role at the helm of the crucial, but little-known, Office of Management and Budget. Vought’s support for impoundment, which would give Congress less budgetary power, and his work on Project 2025 will likely come up.
- A hearing for Department of Homeland Security secretary hopeful Kristi Noem was bumped from Wednesday’s schedule and will now take place on Jan. 17.
WASHINGTON—Senators will question several of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees on Jan. 15.
Queries about partisanship and loyalty to the president-elect are expected to be posed to many, while other lines of questioning will be more specific to individual nominees.
Here are key details on the hearings.
Bondi May Be Asked About Weaponization of Justice
The nomination hearing for Pam Bondi, Trump’s choice for attorney general, will be the first of the day at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Senate’s judiciary committee.
It will likely provoke questions from both sides about alleged political bias at the Department of Justice (DOJ). While Republicans have accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of weaponizing the DOJ against conservatives and Trump, Democrats worry that the incoming executive will use the department to punish his political opponents.
The committee’s ranking member and the Democratic whip, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), sent a letter to Garland on Jan. 13 that voiced concerns with Bondi. It highlighted the former Florida attorney general’s comments on Fox News in 2023.
“When Republicans take back the White House … the Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted—the bad ones,” she said. “The investigators will be investigated.”
Durbin described the statement as a promise to “weaponize the Department.”
U.S. Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 2, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
Republicans may focus on the end of special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of Trump and how the DOJ might assist Congress in investigating Smith’s conduct under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Durbin’s letter urged the department to preserve its records related to Smith’s investigations, as did a letter to Smith from House Republicans.
China Hawk Rubio May Be a Sure Thing
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at 10 a.m. He is Trump’s choice for secretary of state.
The three-term senator, long known for his hawkish stance on foreign policy, is close to a sure bet among the Cabinet nominees.
Rubio’s primary concerns include the threats posed by an increasingly aggressive Chinese regime.
He has served on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China since 2015 and advocated for stronger measures to curb human rights abuses in that country. Beijing put him on its sanctions list twice in 2020 because of his positions on Hong Kong and on Xinjiang, where Uyghur Muslims face arbitrary detention, forced labor, and other abuses.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks to reporters at the media filing center and spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center ahead of the presidential debate between Republican nominee former President Donald J. Trump and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pa., on Sept. 10, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
Rubio also supports divesting from China and has called for restricting U.S. technology exports to China, as well as rules to close China tariff loopholes.
Rubio is likely to enjoy bipartisan support for his confirmation.
Durbin has issued a statement affirming he will vote for Rubio.
He said he believes Rubio, who long served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “has a thorough understanding of the United States’ role on an international scale” and that the two “share many similar views on foreign policy.”
Fossil Fuel Ties, Climate Views Impact Wright
The president-elect’s nominee to lead the Department of Energy, Chris Wright, is an energy entrepreneur who has worked on everything from small modular nuclear reactors to geothermal energy.
During his hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, lawmakers may pay more attention to his fossil fuel ties and his skepticism about some climate-related policies.
Wright is the CEO of Liberty Energy, a leading hydraulic fracking firm.
Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright on Jan. 17, 2018. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
He told The Epoch Times that, while he believes human activity contributes to climate change, climate activists understate the benefits of fossil fuels—and that the world will never reach “net zero.”
Wright’s hearing is currently scheduled for 10 a.m. on Jan. 15.
On Jan. 14, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and all other Democrats on the committee, as well as independent Angus King, asked Chairman Mike Lee (R-Utah) to postpone the hearing, saying that Wright’s financial disclosure and other key documents are still outstanding.
China, FISA in Focus for Trump’s CIA Pick
John Ratcliffe, Trump’s choice to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has received less public pushback than he did during the president-elect’s first term, when Trump repeatedly advanced him as his choice for director of national intelligence (DNI). At that time, members of the Senate’s intelligence committee raised concerns about his background and commitment to maintaining secrecy in intelligence.
He will be scrutinized by the same committee at 10 a.m.
Ratcliffe has established a reputation as a China hawk, in keeping with the views of Trump’s selections for key foreign policy and intelligence-related roles. In a 2020 opinion article for the Wall Street Journal, he characterized the country as the United States’ top national security threat.
John Ratcliffe speaks to the media at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 27, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which permits warrantless surveillance of Americans despite being targeted by Congress at foreign terrorists, may also come up.
Ratcliffe supports the provision, which is set for reauthorization next year. So does Trump’s new prospective DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, who previously opposed it.
Duffy May Talk Longshoremen and Roads
Former Congressman Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary nominee, will have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee at 10 a.m.
That hearing will likely include a variety of topics, from how he would handle the longshoremen working on the nation’s seaports to how he plans to handle Boeing and regulations regarding the nation’s aerospace industry. The current leader of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Whitaker, will leave his post on Jan. 20.
America’s roads are likely to come up, too. The Biden administration worked to expand electric vehicles across the country over the past four years through tax credits, pushing for mandates, and federally funding the installation of charging stations. Questions might also arise over Duffy’s priorities for infrastructure under federal control.
Wisconsin state senator Sean Duffy at a Make America Great Again rally in Mosinee, Wis., on Oct. 24, 2018. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
In his nomination announcement, Trump said Duffy “will ensure our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security, and he will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.”
Vought Likely to Be Pressed on Project 2025
Russ Vought is on pace to lead the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the same position he held during Trump’s first term.
His nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is slated for 1 p.m.
Democrats have criticized Vought over his ties to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s roadmap for a conservative presidency. Trump distanced himself from that document while on the campaign trail but has nominated multiple Project 2025 contributors since Election Day.
Russ Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, speaks at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 29, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
Vought authored the chapter on the Executive Office of the President, which includes the OMB as its biggest component. In a subchapter on the OMB, he described ways to place that office under more direct presidential control and make agencies more responsive to the will of the executive.
The nominee’s think tank, the Center for Renewing America, has published a brief in support of impoundment, the practice whereby a president can refuse to spend all the money allocated by Congress. It argued that the post-Watergate law restricting impoundment is unconstitutional.
Pete Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 14 to make his case to become the next secretary of the Defense Department.
Hegseth was the first of roughly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s appointees slated to go before Senate committees this week and is considered one of the more controversial Cabinet selections.
That fact was on full display as Hegseth entered the crowded Senate chamber to raucous applause and chants of “U.S.A.” that were quickly followed by angry cries and accusations of support for genocide in the Middle East.
Such polarization continued through the single round of questioning afforded to lawmakers. Democrats pressed Hegseth on his professional experience and personal failings, while Republicans praised him for condemning “woke” politics in the military.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the hearing.
1. Hegseth Focuses on Military’s Warfighting Capability
Hegseth sought early on to quash fears that he would lead a witch hunt of Trump’s perceived political enemies in the ranks.
He said both he and Trump would seek to focus on improving the warfighting capability of the military without regard for the political affiliations of its servicemembers.
“[Trump], like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability, and readiness,” Hegseth said in his opening remarks.
“We will remain patriotically apolitical and stridently constitutional.”
When pressed on previous comments in which he blamed Democrats and leftists for much of the military’s perceived failings, Hegseth acknowledged that the incoming Trump administration would remove many officers from their positions but said removals and promotions would be based on merit.
Hegseth said he would seek to reestablish “real deterrence” for the American homeland, beginning with the southern border and expanding to operations against China in the Indo-Pacific as part of a wider Trump administration push toward a “peace through strength” foreign policy.
To that end, Hegseth said that he would “bring the warrior culture back” to the Pentagon, which he said has become less capable of fighting and winning wars and places rule-following above operational success.
2. Pressed on Qualifications
Democratic lawmakers questioned Hegseth’s professional record, noting that he has never led an audit, has never driven costs down for an organization, has never conducted acquisition or reform initiatives, has never led international security negotiations, and appeared largely unaware of regional issues in the Indo-Pacific, where the military is engaged in confronting communist China.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) suggested that Hegseth was demanding that the Department of Defense raise standards on its servicemembers while seeking to lower standards for himself.
“I don’t know of any corporate board of directors that would hire a CEO for a major company if they came and said, ‘You know, I supervised a hundred people before,’” Peters said.
“I don’t think there’s a board of directors in America that would hire you as CEO with the kind of experience you have on your résumé.”
Hegseth addressed concerns about his qualifications by noting that he was building “one of the best possible teams” imaginable to help him lead the Pentagon.
“The only reason I’ve had success in life, to include my wonderful wife, is because of people more capable around me and having that self-confidence to empower them and say: ‘Hey, run with the ball. Run with the football. Take it down the field. We’ll do this together. I don’t care who gets the credit,’” he said.
“And in this case, that’s how the Pentagon will be run.”
3. Women in Combat
Hegseth’s views on women in the military were also a recurring topic of discussion during the hearing.
In a Nov. 7, 2024, interview with podcast host and former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan, Hegseth noted that he supports women servicemembers who contribute to the military, but he later said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”
Hegseth attempted to temper that viewpoint during the hearing, saying he would not seek to bar women from combat roles but remains opposed to lowering standards to make those roles more accessible.
At present, women in combat occupations are required to perform to the same training standards as men but have lower physical standards in service-wide annual training assessments.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) compared Hegseth’s comments made to Ryan with comments he’s made since Trump announced his nomination, in which Hegseth has said that he supports all women who contribute across the U.S. military, including in combat.
“What I’m confused about, Mr. Hegseth, is, which is it?“ she said. ”Why should women in our military, if you were the secretary of defense, believe that they would have a fair shot and an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks?”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) used part of his speaking time to reframe the debate around women in combat, asserting that although women have seen combat through support roles over the years, Pentagon policy has only changed in the past decade to allow women in specific combat specialties such as infantry, artillery, and special operations.
Hegseth said any decision to change a standard to increase a diversity metric detracts from readiness, meritocracy, and lethality.
“That’s the kind of review I’m talking about, not whether women have access to ground combat,” he said, saying that commanders “meet quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted.”
The Pentagon maintains no such policy.
4. Pledge to Reinstate Members Who Refused COVID-19 Vaccine
Falling in line with a key Trump promise, Hegseth also vowed that all servicemembers who were involuntarily removed from service for refusing the COVID-19 vaccination would be reinstated with back pay.
“Not only will they be reinstated, they will receive an apology, back pay, and rank that they lost because they were forced out due to an experimental vaccine,” Hegseth said.
About 3,400 troops were discharged from service for refusing the vaccine, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
The Department of Defense mandates nine other vaccines for all servicemembers, as well as an additional eight depending on occupational specialty or region of deployment, but it rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination requirement in 2023.
Despite this, current Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has thus far refused to reinstate those who were pushed out of service at the time.
It is unclear what the total cost of back pay for the thousands of troops discharged would be or whether it would receive bipartisan support. A bill introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2023 sought to achieve the same end, but it was never passed.
5. Alcohol Use, Sexual Assault Accusations
Much of the hearing went beyond military policy to questions concerning Hegseth’s personal conduct over the years, including allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual assault.
Addressing the alcoholism allegations, Hegseth has said that he would commit to sobriety for the duration of his time as defense secretary if confirmed for the role but would not commit to resigning if he were to go back on that pledge.
Addressing the sexual assault claims, he has said that a 2017 incident was consensual and further noted that law enforcement investigators entirely cleared him of wrongdoing.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said she didn’t feel it was accurate to say Hegseth was completely cleared of the 2017 sexual assault allegation and noted that Hegseth and his accuser had made a nondisclosure agreement to settle the matter.
During the hearing, Hegseth frequently dismissed the drinking claims as arising from anonymous sources. In one particular exchange, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he was aware of named sources backing the drinking allegations.
“I know you’ve denied these things, but isn’t that the kind of behavior that, if true, would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?” Kaine asked.
“Anonymous, false charges,” Hegseth said in response.
At another point, Kaine asked Hegseth to state whether someone would be disqualified from serving as a defense secretary if he or she had committed sexual assault. Hegseth reiterated that the 2017 claim against him was false and stemmed from a consensual encounter and dismissed the question as hypothetical.
During his speaking time, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) turned the questions of drinking and infidelity on his fellow lawmakers.
“How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job?” Mullin asked.
“And then how many senators do you know have [gotten] a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No, because it’s for show.”
