AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Confirmation hearings begin this week for a number of President-elect Donald Trump's nominees. It is the first major opportunity for the public to hear them answer tough questions about their qualifications and how they plan to manage some important government agencies. Here to talk with us about what to watch for is NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro. Hi, Domenico.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Great to be with you, Ailsa.
CHANG: Great to have you. OK, so give us the lay of the land. What's scheduled for this week?
MONTANARO: Well, several hearings, as Trump really is trying to get his team at least mostly in place or close to it when he's inaugurated next week. You know, these hearings are important because of the Senate's advice and consent role. So all the nominees have to go through this - through these public hearings with the relevant committees. The committees then vote on whether to recommend them for the full Senate. And the Senate then votes, and only a simple majority is needed to confirm.
CHANG: Right. OK. And I see they kick off tomorrow morning with the hearing for defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. Tell us what to watch for there.
MONTANARO: Yeah, the hearing tomorrow for Hegseth is one a lot of people are going to be watching. But there are also lots of other hearings on Wednesday for nominees for some other very important positions - attorney general with former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, secretary of state with Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Homeland Security with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. All critical jobs to what Trump wants to do, whether it's how the Justice Department, FBI criminal investigations are conducted, deporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally, how the U.S. is viewed overseas. You know, Hegseth's hearing is going to probably be the one that's the most closely watched because of all the controversy around him.
CHANG: Right.
MONTANARO: That includes whether women should be in combat, for example. And he's likely to face some tough questioning from several senators, including Democrat Tammy Duckworth from Illinois.
CHANG: OK, so tough questions are expected for Hegseth. And so far, you know, we've seen one of Trump's nominees withdraw - that's Matt Gaetz for attorney general. How likely is it that anyone else's nomination could be derailed at this point, you think?
MONTANARO: Well, we'll see how they handle the questions and the scrutiny. I mean, Hegseth is the first big test for the team Trump wants to put in place. The most controversial of the other nominees are Tulsi Gabbard for director of National Intelligence and Kash Patel for FBI. But both of them haven't even had their hearings scheduled yet. They're still meeting with senators.
Stepping back here, I mean, there's been a long-standing belief that presidents should be able to pick their teams, barring, you know, major issues. So lots of senators are likely leaning toward allowing the majority of Trump's nominees through. And we have to remember that many people likely don't know who many of these nominees are or have even formed, you know, views solidly about them.
CHANG: Yeah.
MONTANARO: So these public hearings are going to be a critical test for these nominees to prove they're both qualified and can handle the scrutiny. And it's a little bit of a test of Trump's political capital as well.
CHANG: Well, as we're watching these hearings, Domenico, who do you think are the most important senators to have our eyes on during the questioning?
MONTANARO: Well, some of the usual names here are going to be, you know, most critical. People like Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski - both moderates. But there are a few senators - far fewer senators now in office than 2016 who might oppose Trump. So the likelihood is, at the end of the day, Trump is probably going to get, for the most part, the team that he wants through.
And I'm curious, though, to see if and how many Democrats cross the aisle to vote for Trump's nominees, even the less controversial ones we could see, you know, and where they decide to make stands. Because there's a big question here with Trump coming back into office of what the Democratic resistance is going to look like. We're not seeing, for example, the same level of protest as during Trump's first term.
CHANG: Right.
MONTANARO: It could be that some are just simply tired. Also strikes me that Democratic-elected officials want to be more strategic and focused about where they push back and waiting to see what Trump actually does.
CHANG: That is NPR's Domenico Montanaro. Thank you so much, Domenico.
MONTANARO: You're welcome Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
