After early signs that some of President Trump’s unconventional cabinet choices could be derailed by Republicans alarmed at their character, disturbing paper trails and lack of expertise, the resistance has collapsed.
One after the other on Tuesday, Republican senators fell into line behind two of the president’s most baggage-laden nominees, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.
The party-line committee votes to send both nominees to the floor for likely confirmation next week provided the clearest evidence yet that Mr. Trump’s pressure tactics and the threat of a barrage of abuse by his allies against would-be defectors had sapped whatever remained of a G.O.P. impulse to balk. And they suggested a broader impulse among Republicans on Capitol Hill — even the few who have maintained some degree of independence from Mr. Trump — to shrink from confrontation with him and allow him to have his way at the dawn of his second term.
The decision by Senator Todd Young of Indiana to back Ms. Gabbard, in conjunction with the announcement of Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana that he was setting aside personal reservations to back Mr. Kennedy, marked the end of any serious effort to stop Mr. Trump’s most divisive nominees.
Together with the narrowest possible confirmation of Pete Hegseth last month as secretary of defense, the moves constituted a surrender by Senate Republicans to Mr. Trump even in the face of serious qualms among some in the G.O.P. Another nominee who had initially been seen as facing a potentially difficult path to confirmation, Kash Patel for director of the F.B.I., has impressed Republicans and seems headed for approval as well despite strong Democratic objections.
Though a handful of senators had walked up to the edge of rejecting one or another nominee, putting their confirmations in peril, all but a very few backtracked in the end, issuing statements that they had received promises and assurances from both the nominee and the White House that had eliminated their chief concerns.
“With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on, like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” Mr. Cassidy said Tuesday on the social media platform X, in announcing his vote for Mr. Kennedy. The Louisianian, a doctor, earlier expressed deep unease about Mr. Kennedy’s history of sowing distrust about vaccines.
The nomination of Ms. Gabbard had also run into trouble, particularly for her past push for a pardon for Edward Snowden, the intelligence contractor who had leaked damaging classified secrets. That view and others expressed over the years heightened concerns from Republicans on the Intelligence Committee, including Mr. Young.
A person familiar with Mr. Young’s deliberations said that over the weekend he had extensive conversations with Vice President JD Vance on the Gabbard nomination and that Mr. Vance had been “instrumental” in securing the commitments necessary for Mr. Young’s pivotal support. The Indiana senator sought assurances in writing that she would hold future leakers who are not considered legitimate whistle-blowers accountable.
Mr. Young had also come in for brutal criticism from Elon Musk, the billionaire who has been empowered by Mr. Trump to undertake a war against the federal bureaucracy, and who took to his social media platform over the weekend to denounce the Indiana senator as a “deep state puppet.” Mr. Musk later deleted that post and said he had had a good conversation with Mr. Young, who told reporters on Tuesday that they had not discussed Ms. Gabbard’s nomination.
Most Republicans have been extremely supportive of the Trump nominees from the start, enthusiastically endorsing people they argue have the capacity to shake up a government badly in need of an overhaul. Members of a president’s own party also very rarely vote against cabinet and high-level administration nominees, making the objections registered by the three Republicans on Mr. Hegseth out of the ordinary.
Though the contentious Trump nominees appear headed to approval, the final votes promise to be highly partisan, with Democrats dug in against them for the most part, portraying them as wholly unqualified and, in cases such as Mr. Kennedy, dangerous to the public. Some Democrats also now say they are going to oppose all Trump nominees in protest of the administration’s moves to unilaterally cut off federal funding for some programs and restrict foreign aid spending approved by Congress, as well as the effort led by Mr. Musk to force out officials at a variety of agencies.
But Republicans are celebrating. Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican and new majority leader facing a first leadership challenge with moving the nominees, noted the “considerable headway” being made on nominations.
“The Senate is wasting no time confirming President Trump’s nominees,” Senator Steve Daines, Republican of Montana, said on X, crediting Mr. Thune. “We’re ahead of schedule and not slowing down.”
That did not always appear to be a sure thing. When Mr. Trump first announced his top team, multiple Republicans questioned the wisdom of some of the choices. The immediate and fierce backlash to the proposed nomination of former Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida to be attorney general despite accusations of sexual misconduct and drug use led his name to be quickly withdrawn.
Mr. Hegseth’s history of comments questioning the value of women in the military and accusations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct initially drew the attention of Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa and a former military officer and influential member of the Armed Services Committee. With her support in question, Ms. Ernst came under harsh assault from the right and promises of a primary challenge if she seeks re-election next year. She ended up backing Mr. Hegseth and said he had assured her that he respected the role of women in the armed forces.
Three Republicans — Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — ended up opposing Mr. Hegseth, locking the Senate in a 50-50 tie on his nomination and forcing Mr. Vance to break a tie to confirm him, the closest confirmation of a defense secretary in 50 years.
Until the last minute, Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, had been seen as a likely fourth opponent, which would have doomed Mr. Hegseth’s nomination. But he abruptly flipped hours before the vote and supported Mr. Hegseth after a full-court press from the White House and Senate Republican leadership and lengthy conversations with Mr. Hegseth.
Mr. Tillis, like Mr. Cassidy, is up for re-election next year and would likely find himself in a tough primary for breaking with Mr. Trump.
On Tuesday, Mr. Tillis gave a lengthy explanation for his decision to back Mr. Kennedy, saying he believed a “disrupter” like him could be beneficial at the head of the health agency. He also said that despite questions about his positions on farm policy, gun control and abortion access, no “credible” organization tied to agriculture, gun rights or abortion rights had pushed him to oppose Mr. Kennedy.
“I believe silence is consent,” Mr. Tillis said on Tuesday.
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