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© AP Photo/John Raoux
Cabinet questions swirl after AG shakeup
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) withdrawal from consideration to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general moves the spotlight to other nominees who could face a tough path to confirmation.
Gaetz’s brief AG nod acted like a shield, drawing attention away from Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth.
With Gaetz out of the picture, those nominations will likely dominate discourse on Capitol Hill and in the media for the foreseeable future.
Gabbard and Kennedy are treated with disdain by many in the Washington establishment for their heterodox views, while Hegseth is dealing with fallout from a police report detailing a woman’s allegations of sexual assault against him from 2017.
Hegseth reached a private settlement with the woman, saying he wanted to avoid a defamatory lawsuit. No charges were ever filed, and he insists the encounter was consensual.
However, The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump’s transition team was blindsided but the accusations, with a number of details garnering widespread public attention on the same day Gaetz’s nomination flamed out.
EXIT GAETZ, ENTER BONDI
Gaetz, who resigned from the current Congress, announced Friday he will not return for the next Congress convening in January despite winning reelection.
Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) to replace him. Bondi is expected to have a cleaner path to confirmation, although she’s certain to face scrutiny for backing Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch, Jared Gans and Zach Schonfeld have everything you need to know about Bondi’s nomination here.
The latest: Trump is expected to nominate former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Agriculture.
EARLY GOP SUPPORT FOR KENNEDY
The Hill’s Al Weaver and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech report that GOP senators are signaling early they’re open to Kennedy leading the Department of Health and Human Services, despite his support for abortion rights.
“Donald Trump was elected to shake up things [from] Washington business as usual, and I think that’s the type of nominees he’s picking,” said Sen. Ted........