Then-congressman Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., walks off stage after talking throughout the Republican Nationwide Conference in July.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP by way of Getty Photos/AFP
disguise caption
toggle caption
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP by way of Getty Photos/AFP
When former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., determined to withdraw his candidacy to be President-elect Donald Trump’s legal professional normal, he used a well-recognized phrase.
“It’s clear that my affirmation was unfairly changing into a distraction,” Gaetz wrote on social media. “There isn’t a time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.”
Trump’s selection of Gaetz gave some Republican senators pause. The previous congressman was beforehand the topic of a multiyear federal investigation over alleged sex trafficking and drug use. The Division of Justice by no means introduced fees in opposition to Gaetz and ended its probe in 2023.
Nonetheless, Gaetz’s resolution to bow out of the affirmation course of is not distinctive. Whereas the Senate sometimes confirms nominees introduced for a vote, for greater than three many years, each former president has had at least one Cabinet nominee withdraw their title from consideration.
In 2001, Linda Chavez remembers reporters and photographers camped out within the driveway of her log cabin in rural Virginia as she handled the controversy introduced on by her nomination course of.
The long-time Republican political aide was tapped by then-incoming President George W. Bush to function secretary of labor. Nevertheless, Chavez’s nomination hit a snag after it got here to gentle that she had beforehand allowed an undocumented immigrant to quickly keep in her residence.
“The transition wouldn’t let me speak to the press…I wasn’t allowed to make my case,” she stated. “I actually felt that I used to be changing into, as they are saying in Washington, a distraction.”
In early January of 2001, Linda Chavez held a press convention to announce she was withdrawing from the nomination course of for then-President-elect George W. Bush’s secretary of Labor.
MARIO TAMA/AFP by way of Getty Photos/AFP
disguise caption
toggle caption
MARIO TAMA/AFP by way of Getty Photos/AFP
Chavez advised NPR that she ought to have disclosed the data to the Bush transition workforce earlier and described how the previous president’s silence on the problem pushed her to withdraw.
“He did not name to say, ‘keep it up, Linda, I am with you.’ And that, to me, was a sign,” she stated. “If he wasn’t calling me to say keep it up, then it meant that they weren’t absolutely behind me.”
A glance again at previous nominees
Former President Invoice Clinton’s unique nominee for legal professional normal, Zoë Baird, additionally faced scrutiny for failing to reveal on her taxes that she employed two undocumented immigrants. Clinton’s second selection to steer the DOJ, federal Decide Kimba Wooden, withdrew over a similar situation.
Quick meals chain CEO Andrew Puzder additionally confronted a controversy when he was up for labor secretary throughout Trump’s first time period, acknowledging he beforehand employed a housekeeper who was undocumented, ending her employment when he realized her standing. That, in addition to private particulars from his decades-old divorce and disagreements with lawmakers, doomed his nomination.
Simply weeks after the 2016 election, Andrew Puzder shakes fingers with then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence after a gathering with President-elect Trump at his golf membership in New Jersey.
Drew Angerer/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America
disguise caption
toggle caption
Drew Angerer/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America
Sudden monetary issues have tainted nominations as nicely, particularly throughout former President Barack Obama’s administration, who had a complete of three Cupboard picks again out, probably the most of any president in latest historical past.
Former South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle was a high-profile failed nomination for the early Obama administration. Chosen to steer the Division of Well being and Human Providers, it was found that the longtime politician owed greater than $140,000 in back taxes and interest.
Obama additionally encountered a number of roadblocks in deciding on a commerce secretary. He first selected then-New Mexico Gov. Invoice Richardson, however Richardson finally withdrew over a grand jury investigation associated to his actions with a few of his political donors. In a present of bipartisanship, Obama went on to choose Judd Gregg, then a sitting Republican Sen. from New Hampshire, to fill the spot. However Gregg quickly modified his thoughts, citing “irresolvable conflicts” with Obama’s insurance policies.
President Biden nominated Neera Tanden to steer the Workplace of Administration and Funds. Tanden — a fiery progressive and vetted Democratic aide — had lengthy received pushback over a collection of social media posts she made criticizing Republicans throughout Trump’s time period, which derailed her affirmation course of. Biden did later title Tanden as his home coverage adviser, a place that didn’t require Senate affirmation.
Trump’s transition course of
Whereas Cupboard nominees, like Linda Chavez, have beforehand rescinded their nominations as surprising points arose, Max Stier, who heads the Partnership for Public Service, says for a few of Trump’s picks, that is not occurring.
“It was that there can be new issues that might come up that folks would discover disqualifying,” Stier stated. “Now, we’re discovering that there are previous issues that might have been disqualifying which might be not disqualifying.”
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choose for secretary of protection, has been making his case on Capitol Hill whereas he is been the subject of sexual abuse allegations which have involved some lawmakers. The previous FOX Information host and veteran has vowed to remain within the working, and Trump has reiterated his help for him.
Pete Hegseth walks by means of the halls of the U.S. Capitol in between conferences with Senate Republicans as he works to shore up help for his nomination to function President-elect Trump’s secretary of protection.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America
disguise caption
toggle caption
Kent Nishimura/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America
Hegseth is only one instance of what Julian Zelizer, a historian and professor at Princeton College, argues is a problem of political norms, one thing that Trump has made a signature of his political profession.
“I believe — and that is simply watching — that there’s a a part of President-elect Trump that does not thoughts this a part of the method,” he stated. “It is virtually the sort of chaos and controversy that he tends to thrive with. He dominates the information cycle in a approach these different presidents didn’t.”
“So the place different presidents tried to quash this, I get the sense he is virtually reveling in it, and that is a giant distinction,” Zelizer added.
Along with Hegseth, Trump has a handful of different nominees that would face affirmation challenges, together with Kash Patel as director of the FBI. Patel has promoted conspiracy theories and beforehand spoken about drastically reforming the department. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s as much as head the Division of Well being and Human Providers, has unfold misinformation in regards to the effectiveness of vaccines. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choose for the director of nationwide intelligence, is a former Democratic congresswoman with no record of working in the intelligence space and she has made controversial comments about international coverage.
In an announcement to NPR, Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman for Trump’s transition, defended the president-elect’s picks.
“President Trump was re-elected by a convincing mandate from the American individuals to vary the established order in Washington,” Leavitt stated. “That is why he has chosen good and highly-respected outsiders to serve in his Administration, and he’ll proceed to face behind them as they struggle in opposition to all those that search to derail the MAGA Agenda.”
The president-elect has announced most of his intended Cabinet and at a a lot quicker tempo than previous administrations, in response to Stier. It is a transfer that would trigger issues for extra of Trump’s nominees as they forgo the standard vetting course of.
“I do not know of anyone that has each gone by means of an FBI background verify … or gotten certification from the Workplace of Authorities Ethics,” he stated, explaining each are steps which might be sometimes accomplished earlier than a nominee is introduced to attempt to keep away from controversy.
“It is a little bit just like the pilot of the airplane who skips the checklists and takes off actual quick however does not truly undergo the processes that they should ensure that every part is so as,” he added. “And it isn’t so as.”
