{"id":2402581,"date":"2025-02-14T07:45:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T12:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-republicans-are-giving-trump-the-cabinet-he-wants-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-14T07:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T12:46:11","slug":"senate-republicans-are-giving-trump-the-cabinet-he-wants-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-republicans-are-giving-trump-the-cabinet-he-wants-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Republicans are giving Trump the Cabinet he wants &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-republicans-are-giving-trump-the-cabinet-he-wants-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2402581&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses President Donald Trump&#8217;s triumphant\u200c appointments of two former Democratic leaders, Tulsi Gabbard \u200dand\u200b robert F. Kennedy \u2063Jr., to cabinet positions, \u200cdespite initial skepticism \u2063regarding their acceptance by a Republican-controlled senate. Both nominees were confirmed with minimal\u200c opposition, signifying a shift \u200cin the GOP&#8217;s \u200ddynamics under Trump&#8217;s leadership. While\u200d some Republican senators had reservations about Gabbard and Kennedy&#8217;s ideologies,\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">key party \u200cmembers eventually supported<\/a>\u2063 their nominations, illustrating Trump&#8217;s influence \u200dover the party.<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard, a former congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate, \u2062and Kennedy, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/megyn-kelly-vs-candace-owens-heated-debate-erupts-over-blacklisting-pro-hamas-college-students\/\" title=\"Megyn Kelly and Candace Owens clash over blacklisting pro-Hamas college students.\">progressive\u2063 activist<\/a> and\u200c member of the Kennedy political dynasty, received their \u2063nominations as Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Health and Human Services, respectively.Stark contrasts in party dynamics were evident,as no Democrats voted for them. Their crossover appeal \u2063was instrumental for Trump, who gained traction with moderate and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-signals-support-for-amazon-workers-vote-to-unionize\/\" title=\"Biden Signals Support For Amazon Workers\u2019 Vote To Unionize\">working-class voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>despite trump&#8217;s \u2063favorable start in his current term, challenges remain \u2062for his future cabinet nominees, such as Kash\u2064 Patel for FBI director and\u2062 Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor\u2063 secretary, \u200bwith potential\u200d opposition \u200cexpected for Chavez-DeRemer. the \u2064approval of Gabbard and Kennedy illustrates a important transformation in the Republican \u200cParty&#8217;s coalition under Trump.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Senate Republicans are giving Trump the Cabinet he wants<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1992519\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a> got his two former progressive Democratic Cabinet picks confirmed with little Republican dissent this week despite early predictions that they would have trouble getting through a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">GOP-controlled Senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>When the Senate held the final votes on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tulsi-gabbard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Tulsi Gabbard<\/a> for director of national intelligence and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rfk-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> for secretary of health and human services, Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jd-vance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">JD Vance<\/a> wasn&rsquo;t even in the country much less on hand at the Capitol to break a possible tie, as he did with Defense Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pete Hegseth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That signaled how much confidence Senate Republican leaders had in the outcome despite the fact that neither nominee was able to get a single vote from senators from their former party. Republicans hold a solid, but not overwhelming, 53-47 majority in the upper chamber.<\/p>\n<p>On the Republican side, only Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mitch-mcconnell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Mitch McConnell<\/a> (R-KY), the longtime GOP floor leader, voted against them.<\/p>\n<p>It is another sign of Trump remaking the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republican-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Republican Party<\/a> as its undisputed leader.<\/p>\n<p>Many Republicans had expressed reservations about Gabbard and Kennedy on the precise issues that would be their portfolios if confirmed. But hawkish Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) quickly came around on the relatively dovish Gabbard. Strong social conservatives like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) were reassured Kennedy would not run the Department of Health and Human Services according to his previous liberal positions on abortion, though Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) took longer to come around.<\/p>\n<p>A conservative group aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence, who served during Trump&rsquo;s first term, tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3310627\/rfk-jr-nomination-fight-pits-old-gop-coalition-against-new\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">rally Republicans against Kennedy<\/a>. Rallying Republicans against Kennedys was once a fairly easy thing to do, but this time Pence got barely any takers.<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard was a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and a former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, a position from which she resigned over the DNC&rsquo;s treatment of Bernie Sanders, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freedom-convoy-macron-accused-of-campaigning-with-armoured-vehicles-as-nearly-100-protesters-arrested\/\" title=\"Freedom Convoy: Macron Accused of Campaigning with \u2018Armoured Vehicles\u2019, as Nearly 100 Protesters Arrested\">socialist presidential candidate<\/a> she supported in 2016. Gabbard sought the Democratic presidential nomination herself in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/experts-worry-biden-fcc-pick-will-use-post-to-attack-conservatives\/\" title=\"Experts Worry Biden FCC Pick Will Use Post To Attack Conservatives\">longtime progressive activist<\/a> and literal descendant of Camelot. His father was Robert F. Kennedy, a 1968 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, New York senator, and attorney general in his brother&rsquo;s administration. Former President John F. Kennedy was Kennedy Jr.&rsquo;s uncle. The younger Kennedy originally planned to challenge then-President Joe Biden for renomination in the Democratic primaries in 2024 before launching a short-lived independent candidacy. Kennedy Jr. remained on some state ballots after dropping out and endorsing Trump, winning more than 756,000 votes and finishing a distant fourth place nationally.<\/p>\n<p>Their crossover support proved helpful to Trump as he beat former Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Kamala Harris<\/a> and won the popular vote for the first time in three consecutive campaigns. Some felt as if the parties traded former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for Kennedy and Gabbard.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But plenty of Republican senators can get elected from safe red states without these crossover votes. Not all of them will be up for reelection next year, when Trump allies threatened to primary them if they blocked his less conventional nominees. Many will outlast Trump, who cannot seek reelection in 2028 under the 22nd Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>Republican senators nevertheless seem inclined to give Trump the Cabinet he wants, especially with the president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3318964\/trump-poll-numbers-better-than-ever-second-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">off to a better start <\/a>than eight years ago. Two controversial Cabinet-level nominees remain: Kash Patel, Trump&rsquo;s pick for FBI director who cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), who has been selected for labor secretary.<\/p>\n<p>The union-friendly Chavez-DeRemer may actually encounter significant Republican opposition. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), for example, is not a fan. Or that may fizzle if she is not able to win the Democratic support that was originally anticipated as Senate Democrats find themselves in no mood to do Trump any favors.<\/p>\n<p>Like Kennedy and Gabbard, Chavez-DeRemer&rsquo;s nomination reflects changes in the Republican coalition under Trump. As the party has done better with working-class voters, Trump and Vance have sought to make inroads with unions. The first-term Trump Labor Department was mostly run by movement conservatives.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So far, only Trump&rsquo;s nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida for attorney general has proved to be a nonstarter. Gaetz has contentious relationships with many of his colleagues on Capitol Hill in addition to personal scandals, questions about his experience, and certain ideological disagreements. The Gaetz nomination was withdrawn last year, before Trump took office. Attorney General Pam Bondi was subsequently confirmed easily.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Elon Musk<\/a> in his role heading up the Department of Government Efficiency has been one of Trump&rsquo;s most controversial subordinates, but he did not require Senate confirmation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1992519\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1992519\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Republicans are approving Trump&#8217;s desired Cabinet picks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2402582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rfk_gabbard.webp.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4955,5894,35272,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2402581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cabinet","tag-politics","tag-senate-republicans","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rfk_gabbard.webp.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402581"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402585,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402581\/revisions\/2402585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}