Two of President-elect Donald Trump's controversial Cabinet picks are "probably cooked," a prominent GOP strategist said.
Some of Trump's Cabinet nominees for his second term have raised eyebrows in Washington, including vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary; former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda, as national intelligence director; and former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct, as attorney general.
Gaetz also has been accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl on a game table at a July 2017 party, according to the woman's lawyer. Gaetz, who was sworn in to his first term in the House in January of that year, has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump also nominated Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News presenter, as defense secretary.
According to Republican political consultant and former Mitt Romney adviser Mike Murphy, two of Trump's nominees in particular might struggle to make it through the confirmation process.
"He will take one hit or two [on the nominations]," Murphy said of Trump during an episode of The New Non-Normal podcast on Tuesday. "I think Gaetz and RFK [Kennedy] are probably cooked.
"But the rest, including Hegseth and the exorable Tulsi Gabbard, I think there's a point where this iron Senate will fold."
On Tuesday, Trump nominated former WWE boss Linda McMahon as education secretary, TV's Dr. Mehmet Oz as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary.
Murphy said that Senate Republicans may be forced to confirm at least one or two of Trump's picks, even if they do not wish to do so.
"The risk, if you make him eat four or five, does that get him frustrated, he says he's not gonna eat even one of them, and then he says let's make them all acting," he said. "They may have to choose which of these ones they reject, because if they reject all of them, that may prompt Trump to try to get them all operating as acting secretaries."
Newsweek has contacted Trump's transition team for comment via email.
All of Trump's Cabinet nominations will require confirmation by the Senate. But even with a GOP majority in the upper chamber of Congress in the new term, he could face obstacles in getting his controversial choices confirmed, with half of Senate Republicans, including some in senior leadership positions, privately saying they don't see a path for Gaetz to be confirmed, while some Republican lawmakers, like Senator Susan Collins of Maine, have expressed dismay over Trump picking Gaetz, and others have refused to say how they will vote on confirming Kennedy.
Relying on acting Cabinet members is not unusual. Presidents frequently appoint them at the start of their administration or second term while waiting for Senate confirmation. At the beginning of his first term, Trump's Cabinet had been filled by more acting secretaries than any of his predecessors, with 28 acting Cabinet secretaries by 2019. In contrast, Obama had 23 acting secretaries over the course of his whole administration.
Trump also has proposed using recess appointments to bypass the confirmation process.
"Any Republican senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner," Trump posted to X, formerly Twitter, this month.
But Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota expressed opposition to Trump's use of recess appointments, calling it "unwise" without majority party support. However, he remains the only GOP member to voice such concerns.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky reportedly warned Trump's team against recess appointments, prompting backlash. Florida Senator Rick Scott responded on X, saying, "Yes, there will be," while Utah Senator Mike Lee questioned McConnell's authority, adding, "Remember that time when McConnell decided he wouldn't be speaking for Senate Republicans anymore?"
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