(WASHINGTON) — Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to serve in top Cabinet and senior advisory roles are slated to appear on Capitol Hill this week for hearings before Senate committees, a key test for many of them.
The marathon of nomination hearings will color the week leading up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Republicans hope that by holding these hearings now, many of the nominees will be ready for consideration on the Senate floor shortly after Trump is sworn into office.
In total, 14 of Trump’s nominees will appear before their respective Senate panels before the week is out. More hearings will come in the following weeks.
There’s expected to be no shortage of fireworks as some of the top nominees face a grilling before their panels, but for some nominees the hearings are largely perfunctory.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of State, for example, is expected to fly through his hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.
Rubio’s experience in the Senate serving as the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, which deals closely with a number of classified issues, gives him the bona fides to make even some Democrats comfortable supporting his nomination.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Rubio’s Democratic counterpart on the committee, applauded the Florida senator’s nomination in a statement calling him a “strong voice for American interests around the globe.” Rubio’s expected to pick up the support of a number of Senate Democrats including Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida over the weekend.
Fetterman is expected to be a Democratic ally for a number of other nominees as well. He’s expressed support for GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee to serve as United Nations ambassador, and Sean Duffy, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Transportation. Both of these nomination hearings are also expected to pass with little fanfare this week.
But for other nominees who have not been as warmly received on Capitol Hill, these hearings will be a major test.
During these public panels, nominees will take a public grilling from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Democrats who have made clear they have no intention to go easy on nominees whose records they feel are lacking.
According to a source familiar with the discussion, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Senate Democrats behind closed doors last week that confirmation hearings are a good opportunity to hold Trump nominees’ feet to the fire and hold them accountable for Trump’s agenda.
In floor remarks, Schumer has called for a “robust” vetting process of the nominees.
That’s why some Senate Republicans have been especially involved in getting Trump’s nominees ready for the gauntlet, holding practice hearings to help them prepare.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., has been part of mock hearings, which include everything from microphones to name tags, those familiar with the preparations told ABC News. Republican senators have stressed these hearings could be make or break — others have told nominees to watch video clips of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s high-stakes hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for an idea of what could be ahead.
Trump’s nominees will benefit from having a Republican majority that is eager to quickly install his team. Still, with Republicans controlling 53 seats in the Senate, some of the more embattled nominees who will not receive any Democratic support can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans.
In a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill last week, Trump urged his conference to stay united behind each of his nominees.
“He asked for strong unity and support to get his team through, and to get them through as soon as possible so they can get to work,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said leaving the Wednesday meeting.
Two sources in the room told ABC News that Trump made a special appeal for Pete Hegseth, his nominee to serve as the secretary of defense.
Ahead of his scheduled Tuesday hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth has been taking part in these practice hearings, ABC News is told.
Hegseth’s hearing will likely be one of the most closely watched of the week.
The former “Fox & Friends” anchor has faced scrutiny from lawmakers over his lack of experience and following reports of both financial and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has denied all of these allegations, but it has created some uncertainty about whether he will get the 50 votes he needs to be confirmed.
That makes Tuesday a make or break moment for him. He’ll face a number of tough lines of questioning from Democrats.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who serves on the Armed Services Committee, told ABC News she’ll focus her questioning on underscoring Hegseth’s lack of qualifications for the role.
Duckworth, a combat veteran, said she’ll focus on “whether or not he is qualified to do the job, whether or not he has the experience to do the job.”
“From everything that I’ve looked at so far he has never managed more than 40 personnel. I don’t know what the largest budget that he has ever successfully managed,” Duckworth said.
Other nominees to watch this week include Pam Bondi, who Trump nominated to be attorney general. Bondi will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Though she is ultimately expected to be confirmed, Bondi will no doubt face scrutiny from Democrats. So too will Kristi Noem, the nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, who comes before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Notably, there are a number of high profile nominees whose hearings have not yet been noticed, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump wants as his spy chief.
For some of these nominees, confirmation hearings are apparently being stalled due to issues with receiving some of the necessary documents.
Sen. John Barrasso, the Republican whip, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Gabbard’s nomination was being held up by a “paperwork problem” with the Office of Government Ethics.
“We had hoped to have the hearing later this week. It looks like it’s going to be the following week,” Barrasso said.
ABC News’ Mariam Khan contributed to this report
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