Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming cabinet are scheduled to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, January 14th.
The senatorial snakes will each take up careful positioning. Doug Collins for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior, and Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense are each scheduled for confirmation hearings in the Senate tomorrow.
With committee passage strongly likely, former Congressman Doug Collins will likely garner more than 60 votes in the full Senate. Former Governor Doug Bergum will also likely glide through the committee review, with around 70 votes likely in the full Senate. However, Pete Hegseth is where the challenge will become first visible.
Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is viewed as the first potential scalp to be taken in the upper chamber. The first hurdle is getting out of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI).
The full slate of Democrat members are likely to oppose Hegseth under the justification of his personal attributes not being of strong enough moral character to lead the military. The women on the committee will face strong pressure to reject Hegseth due to perceived sexism and misconduct. No one knows what the FBI background check has uncovered, but it will likely be shaped during the predictable confrontation.
For Democrats on the committee, dirtying up Hegseth will be job #1. For Republicans, they will need to walk a fine line between supporting the Democrats and yet being visible supporters lest they face the ire of Donald Trump and a fully triggered MAGA army to light up their phones.
Democrat Senators, Jeanne Shaheen, Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Mazie K. Hirono, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jacky Rosen and Elissa Slotkin, will all play the gender card putting pressure on the two Republican committee women Joni Ernst and Deb Fischer, not to defend Hegseth.
This will be the #1 confirmation hearing to watch tomorrow.