Difficult questions facing Trump’s nominees

Some of Donald Trump’s key allies will face criticism from senators this week as part of a fraught process to either confirm or reject the president-elect’s nominations.

The hearings, which begin Tuesday, are the first opportunity for senators to publicly question some of Trump’s most controversial choices.

They will then need to be confirmed in their roles through a vote. And although the upper house of Congress is now controlled by Trump’s Republican Party, just three defectors could be enough to deny a candidate the job.

Here are some tough questions these candidates are likely to face.

One of the first confirmation hearings will be one of the most closely watched.

Trump’s defense secretary nominee is expected to face questions Tuesday about his lack of leadership experience, his alleged drinking and his past opposition to women serving in combat roles in the military.

Hegseth may also be asked about allegations of sexually assaulting a woman at a California hotel in 2017.

He denies the claims and claims the meeting was consensual.

The allegation was investigated, but Hegseth — a Fox News anchor and veteran — was never arrested or charged.

Hegseth and the unnamed accuser then reached a confidential financial settlement in 2023. His attorney later told The Associated Press that the payment was intended to prevent a frivolous lawsuit.

Trump has endorsed his choice, who is among the candidates who have been busy courting senators in recent days to try to get the votes they need.

The focus Wednesday will be on the woman who could be tasked with carrying out one of Trump’s top campaign promises — what his team calls the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in American history.

As the president’s choice for secretary of national security, Noem may question the practicality of making that promise. A mass deportation program on the proposed scale is likely to face logistical or legal difficulties, experts say.

Noem could also face questions about other potential immigration policies, such as Trump’s pledge to end birthright citizenship.

She has been a loyal and active supporter of the president-elect’s pledges, which is consistent with other candidates and appointees for Trump’s second term in the White House.

The man chosen to lead Trump’s foreign policy was once on the other side of a confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee for secretary of state.

During the 2017 session, he pushed Rex Tillerson by urging him to call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, which Tillerson refused to do.

If that session signaled a divergence of views between Rubio and Trump, then rivals, eight years later they appear much closer.

Rubio is now in the running for one of the most coveted jobs in the Trump administration and is expected to face relatively little opposition on his path to confirmation.

But senators on Wednesday could test his loyalty by asking questions about future US support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Trump sees it as a drain on US resources, a view that could clash with Rubio’s hawkish views on foreign policy.

Another candidate facing a possible test of loyalty to Trump in a Senate committee hearing (which has yet to be scheduled) is one of the officials tasked with implementing Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Trump has threatened tariffs on imports of various goods coming into the US – including from some of its top trading partners – in what he says is an attempt to protect US jobs.

Lutnik, the billionaire chief executive of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, accepted the offer, despite the fact that the position is at odds with others in his industry and some leading economists.

He will likely face direct questions about the impact of the new tariffs on the U.S. economy and consumers.

Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence could be questioned by both Republicans and Democrats about her past comments about US adversaries such as Russia and Syria.

Gabbard, another military veteran, regularly spoke out against America’s interventionist foreign policy. In 2017, while still a Democratic member of Congress, she met with then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and questioned US intelligence assessments that blamed him for using deadly chemical weapons.

And after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine five years later, it blamed NATO and repeated the Kremlin’s claim that there were US-funded biolabs in Ukraine.

Gabbard talked about the need to talk to countries like Russia.

Democrats are reportedly delaying her hearing until the vetting is complete.

One of Trump’s more unconventional choices, like Gabbard, was on a political path that actually began in the Democratic Party.

Kennedy has since become a Trump supporter and was awarded the nomination.

He has no medical qualifications, which could be a difficult initial question on both sides of the political divide.

And his past statements about accepted science may also come under scrutiny. He has repeatedly made widely disputed claims about vaccine harm, but has denied that he is anti-vaccine more generally.

On other issues — such as the scrutiny of food additives — Kennedy enjoys broader support.

Some critics of Trump’s choice to head the FBI have expressed doubts that Patel is fit to lead America’s top law enforcement agency. Others shared concerns that he might be working to retaliate against Trump’s opponents.

“We’re going to go after people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig the presidential election,” he said earlier, referring to Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election.

Although former law enforcement officials have questioned his ability to lead the agency, Patel’s experience as a lawyer and a string of national security roles has been praised by the Trump team and some Republicans.

Petel has a stated goal of overhauling the FBI, including by firing some of its top staff.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher digs into US politics in his twice-weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. UK readers can register here. Those not based in the UK can register here.