An online petition urging the Senate to block President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominations is gaining momentum.
The petition, set up by the progressive advocacy group MoveOn, has attracted more than 44,000 signatures since it was set up five days ago. This figure is more than double the 20,000 it achieved one day after it went live.
The group focuses on vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (health) and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth (defense) as Trump picks the Senate should reject.
Hegseth has faced criticism for his lack of necessary experience for the top Cabinet role, and was accused of sexual assault in 2017, which he denies and was never charged over.
"The Senate must reject these Cabinet nominees to protect working Americans from the dysfunction our federal agencies will face under the direction of these appointees," MoveOn wrote on the petition's page. "We're worth fighting for and we deserve better."
The symbolic petition, even if it becomes more popular, is unlikely to influence the nomination process for Trump's Cabinet picks. With the GOP set to control the Senate with a 53-47 seat majority next year, even some of the president-elect's more contentious picks are likely to be confirmed.
It is extremely rare for Cabinet appointees to be rejected by a vote on the Senate floor. It has only happened nine times in U.S. history, mostly in the 19th century. The last time was in 1989, when George H.W. Bush's pick for defense secretary, John G. Tower, was rejected by a vote of 47-53 in a Democrat-controlled upper chamber.
Newsweek has connected MoveOn and the Trump transition team for comment via email.
MoveOn said pressure also needs to be placed on the Senate to reject "extremist Trump nominees who will seek to enact Trump's radical Project 2025 agenda."
Trump has frequently distanced himself from Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation's 922-page document outlining how a potential Republican administration could overhaul the federal government.
A number of Trump's Cabinet picks, including Russ Vought, who is in line to return as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and upcoming "border czar" Tom Homan, have links to Project 2025.
"Trump is handpicking MAGA loyalists who will protect him at all costs and do anything to enact Project 2025," MoveOn Wrote.
"It's up to us to stop him when we can and slow down any impact he could have on the American people. Trump is trying to create a society where the rich get richer and the working class have to pay even more out of their pockets."
Picking former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general was another controversial move by Trump. Gaetz has sparse professional legal experience, and was under a congressional ethics investigation over a number allegations, including that he had sex with a minor while in office.
Gaetz denied the allegations, but withdrew his nomination on November 21 saying he was "unfairly becoming a distraction" to the Trump-JD Vance transition team.
Trump then nominated former attorney general of Florida, Pam Bondi, as his next choice to lead the Department of Justice.
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