President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominees for key Cabinet positions will have hearings for their Senate confirmation on Capitol Hill this week.
Nominees will first face committees with subject areas of relevance for their posts. Then, the entire Senate will vote on their confirmation. Republicans have a three-seat majority in the Senate, and nominees only need to reach a simple majority to be confirmed, meaning Trump’s nominees only have room for three Republicans to voice their dissatisfaction should all Democrats oppose a nominee.
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Here is the schedule for Trump’s nominees:
Tuesday, Jan. 14
- Pete Hegseth – Senate Armed Services Committee
Former Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth faced the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday in his bid for the defense secretary post. He defended his plan to quash DEI efforts in the Pentagon and clarified his stance on women serving in combat roles.
“Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles given the standards remain high and we’ll have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded,” Hegseth told senators.
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Hegseth was grilled by Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee for over four hours while Republicans came to his defense and praised his “warrior mentality” as they look to shepherd him over the finish line as Trump’s secretary of defense. Democrats asked him about accusations of sexual assault and heavy drinking.
Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Pam Bondi – Senate Judiciary Committee
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi will face the Senate Judiciary Committee on both Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. and Thursday at 10:15 a.m. as she is considered for the role of attorney general. A staunch Trump ally, Bondi was a senior adviser on Trump’s first impeachment defense team. She served as Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019.
- Sean Duffy – Senate Commerce Committee
Former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy, who most recently worked at Fox Business, will meet with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Wednesday at 10 a.m. as he is considered to be secretary of transportation. His path to confirmation appears smooth as several senators on the Commerce Committee on both sides of the aisle have been positive about Duffy’s nomination.
- Russell Vought – Homeland Security Committee
Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday at 1 p.m. In the first Trump administration, he served briefly as director of the OBM. He is also expected to testify before the Senate Budget Committee, but that hearing is not scheduled.
- John Ratcliffe – Intelligence Committee
John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence under Trump, will meet with the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday at 10 a.m. as he is being considered to be director of the CIA.
- Chris Wright – Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Chris Wright will meet with the Energy and Natural Resources Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing at 10 a.m. for secretary of energy. Wright is a Trump campaign donor and fossil fuel executive who has been vocal about his support for oil and gas development, including fracking, a key quest for Trump’s agenda.
- Marco Rubio – Foreign Relations Committee
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, will face the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday at 10 a.m.. He is currently a senior member of the committee. His nomination will likely have some bipartisan support.
Thursday, Jan. 16
- Lee Zeldin – Environmental and Public Works Committee
Lee Zeldin, who ran for governor of New York in 2022, was nominated for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. He will face the Environmental and Public Works Committee on either Thursday at 10 a.m.
- Doug Burgum – Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will face the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday at 10 a.m. as he is considered to be secretary of the interior. Burgum, coming from an oil-rich state, has been an advocate of American energy production. North Dakota also has large amounts of coal, wind energy, and biofuel production.
- Scott Turner – Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Former NFL player Scott Turner will meet with the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at 10 a.m. Thursday as he is being considered to be Trump’s secretary of housing and urban development. Turner served as a midlevel official in the first Trump administration, during which he headed a council overseeing federal opportunity zones.
- Scott Bessent – Senate Finance Committee
Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager who Trump tapped to be treasury secretary, will meet with the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. His confirmation is expected to be smooth, as meetings with Republican senators and centrist Democrats have reportedly gone well.
Some of Trump’s most notable nominees, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services secretary and Kash Patel to head the FBI, have not had their hearings scheduled yet. Others, such as Veterans Affairs nominee Doug Collins, had their hearings pushed back because their background checks weren’t delivered on time. Collins will now appear before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Jan. 21.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also had her hearing delayed. She was originally scheduled to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, but now her hearing date is TBD.
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Friday, Jan. 17
- Kristi Noem – Homeland Security Committee
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) will face the Homeland Security Committee on Friday, the Washington Examiner has learned, though an exact time has not been given.
The governor’s hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m. She is Trump’s pick for secretary of homeland security. The Department of Homeland Security is one of the most wide-ranging departments, encompassing agencies from TSA to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At one point in the campaign, Noem was rumored to be Trump’s pick for vice president.
