President-elect Donald Trump is testing the waters to see how much influence he holds in Congress, according to an ex-adviser to former President George W. Bush.
Trump has made a string of surprising nomination announcements for key Cabinet roles in the past few days, including Fox News host and Iraq War veteran Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, and former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
"Donald Trump is feeling his oats. He doesn't feel like he has to negotiate with anybody over these cabinet picks," said Scott Jennings, who was the executive director of Bush's successful 2004 re-election campaign, during an appearance on CNN. "He's fully confident in what he is doing and he meant everything he said about not just shaking up Washington, but blowing up Washington, D.C. I think he feels like he was elected to do things like this.
"Donald Trump is testing exactly how powerful he is. Sometimes second term presidents try to be a little bit more powerful," he added.
Jennings was speaking the wake of Trump announcing on Wednesday that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was his nominee for attorney general, which left legal experts stunned.
It was later revealed that Gaetz was resigning his seat in the House of Representatives, just two days before the House Ethics Committee was due to vote on the release of a report on allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, which, while not resulting in charges, remain a point of contention.
Gaetz still needs to be confirmed in the Senate in order to be appointed as attorney general, something that may be trickier than Trump's other picks due to the his divisive role within the Republican Party, particularly in the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which strained relationships with GOP colleagues and the aforementioned allegations. Only four Republican senators would need to break ranks to deny his confirmation.
Two of the party's caucus have already expressed skepticism at the nomination, with Maine' Susan Collins and North Carolina's Thom Tillis both casting doubt on his chances.
Jennings said Gaetz was "below the line for confirmation" right now and described the dynamic as "a showdown with Trump's own party," saying that Gaetz's appointment would be a litmus test for how the new Republican-held Congress would respond to Trump's more unconventional moves.
Newsweek contacted Trump's transition team for a response to the comments via email.
The appointments process will begin when the new Congress is sworn into office in January.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
fairness meter
fairness meter
Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair.
Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter.
Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair.
Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter.
Click On Meter To Rate This Article
About the writer
Theo Burman
Theo Burman is a Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is on U.S. politics and international ...
Read more
English (US) ·