The Senate is kicking off confirmation hearings for President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees this week, with a slew of his picks — some controversial, others with strong support — set to appear before committees and field questions on their backgrounds and visions for the administration.
Headlining the list of nominees this week is Pete Hegseth, Trump’s selection to serve as defense secretary, who has drawn skepticism among some for allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking on the job and past comments that women should not serve in combat roles. Hegseth will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
In addition to Hegseth, Trump’s nominees for nearly a dozen other Cabinet positions will answer questions this week, as Congress prepares for the president-elect to take office in exactly one week.
Also this week, the Senate is expected to hold additional votes on the Laken Riley Act, the bill named after the slain Georgia student that would require detention of migrants arrested for theft. The measure cleared a key procedural hurdle last week in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote.
On the House side, lawmakers will consider legislation pertaining to transgender athletes and immigration. And the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent.
Senate to hold confirmation hearings for Trump nominees
Hegseth’s nomination to be secretary of Defense will face a key moment on Tuesday, when the former Fox News host fields questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The hearing — scheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. — comes days after the top senators on the Armed Services panel were briefed on the FBI’s background check into Hegseth, according to multiple outlets, a significant development since a number of lawmakers were demanding to review the contents as the nomination process progressed.
And the hearing follows multiple weeks of news coverage focused on the controversies surrounding Hegseth, including allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking on the job and previous comments he has made that women should not serve in combat roles in the military.
Those concerns are likely to come up on Tuesday, when the 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats on the panel have their chance to question the nominee.
One lawmaker to keep an eye on will be Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has not committed to backing the defense secretary nominee. Ernst is seen as a key vote on the committee, in-part because she is a veteran and survivor of sexual assault.
Ernst met with Hegseth twice in December, calling the second gathering “productive.”
“As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources,” she added in a statement at the time.
With all Democrats expected to oppose Hegseth, the nominee can only afford to lose three Republicans and still be confirmed — a tight margin that will come into sharp focus in the lead-up to his confirmation vote.
Hegseth is not the only nominee who will sit for a hearing this week.
Also on Tuesday, former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), nominee to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, will appear before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Doug Burgum, nominee to be secretary of the Interior, will appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
On Wednesday. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), nominee to be secretary of Homeland Security, will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Pam Bondi, nominee to be attorney general, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), nominee to be secretary of State, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; John Ratcliffe, nominee to be CIA director, will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee; Sean Duffy, nominee to be secretary of Transportation, will appear before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; Chris Wright, nominee to be secretary of Energy, will appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Russ Vought, nominee to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, will appear before before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
On Thursday, Scott Turner, nominee to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will appear before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; Lee Zeldin, nominee to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; and Scott Bessent, nominee to be secretary of the Treasury, will appear before the Senate Finance Committee.
Senate to continue consideration of Laken Riley Act
The Senate this week will continue consideration of the Laken Riley Act, which would require that migrants who are arrested for theft are detained.
The legislation — named after the slain Georgia student — cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate in a bipartisan 84-9 vote last week. More votes are expected this week, including on potential amendments.
The Laken Riley Act is the first piece of legislation Republicans are considering in this Congress, as they continue to focus their attention on immigration and the border. Those matters emerged as key issues in the 2024 election, and were seen as ones that were better handled by Republicans.
The issue is also one that has a history of splitting Democrats. Last week, for example, the Laken Riley Act cleared the House in a 264-159 vote, with 48 Democrats joining all Republicans in backing the legislation.
The bill honors Laken Riley, the woman killed by a Venezuelan migrant who was arrested for shoplifting ahead of the attack and paroled in the country. The House approved the legislation last year, but it languished in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The measure calls for the detention of a broad group of migrants, including individuals permitted to enter the U.S. to seek asylum, if they have been accused of theft, burglary or shoplifting. It has, however, sparked some concerns among immigration advocates because it requires the detention of immigrants right when they are charged or arrested for crimes, and not after a conviction.
House to take up legislation regarding transgender athletes, immigration
The House this week is scheduled to consider the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” a measure that would ban transgender women and girls from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
The legislation — which passed the House on a party-line vote in 2023 — seeks to amend Title IX to bar schools from letting transgender female athletes take part in an athletic program or activity “that is designated for women or girls.” The measure would define sex as “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
Consideration of the legislation comes after transgender individuals and issues were invoked several times on the campaign trail. And the measure is making its way to the floor following Johnson’s announcement that transgender women would not be allowed to use bathrooms in the Capitol that match their gender identity.
Additionally, the House this week is set to consider the “Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act,” which would deem illegal immigrants who are convicted of sex offense for domestic violence as “inadmissible and deportable.”
The House approved the legislation in a bipartisan 266-158 vote last year, with 51 Democrats joining all Republicans in support.
“Communities across America suffer the tragic consequences of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ open border policies daily,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office wrote in a floor lookout. “We must take a stand against these life-destroying policies that continue to allow criminal illegal immigrants to enter and remain in our country.”
House to hold hearing on Trump tax cuts
The House Ways and Means Committee is set to hold a hearing on making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, a key agenda item on the president-elect’s to-do list that Republicans are hoping to achieve in their sprawling reconciliation package.
The hearing — scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. — comes as GOP lawmakers are in the beginning stages of crafting a “big, beautiful bill,” as Trump has dubbed it, to enact the president-elect’s priorities in a party-line package. Several provisions in the 2017 Trump tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025.
Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said this week’s hearing will point out “the success” of the tax cuts, and make the argument for why they should be extended.
“For the past two years the Ways and Means Committee has been hard at work to extend and build on the success of President Trump’s tax cuts – the most significant tax relief legislation in a generation that unleashed America’s potential and created the best economy of my lifetime,” Smith said. “Tuesday’s hearing will highlight the success of – and the need to immediately make permanent – the Trump tax cuts that helped working-class families, small businesses, and farmers, grew the U.S. economy at a full percentage point higher than the previous 10-year average and beat economist forecasts.”
“We achieved record 50-year low levels of poverty and unemployment and restored American manufacturing,” he added. “American families and small businesses need certainty that they will not be hit with a $4.6 trillion tax increase at the end of this year. Without action, workers paychecks one year from today will look drastically different as they fork over even more to Uncle Sam.”
