JD Vance to Act as Senate Valet for Trump’s Worst Cabinet Picks
The vice-president elect will reportedly bring Republican senators together with some of Trump’s controversial Cabinet nominees.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Vice President-elect JD Vance is planning to meet with senators alongside some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, according to multiple reports.
Vance’s trip comes as Republicans scrutinize some of Trump’s more controversial picks for top Cabinet positions, including former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense.
Vance is expected to bring along some of the nominees, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was nominated for the role of UN Ambassador, and retired Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, his pick for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, CNN first reported citing unnamed sources.
Gaetz and Hegseth might also sit in on some meetings, sources told Politico later on Tuesday. Representatives for Vance did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives last week—just days before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to vote on the release of an ethics investigation into the controversial Florida congressman.
Gaetz was under investigation for alleged illicit drug use and sexual misconduct with an underage girl. The Florida congressman has long denied the allegations, and was previously the target of a Justice Department probe that ended with no charges being filed.
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At least two Republican senators—Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine—have expressed skepticism over the pick. “I don’t think it is a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Murkowski told reporters shortly after the nomination was announced.
Others, including Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, have called for the House Ethics Committee to release their findings for Gaetz’s confirmation hearing in the Senate.
Mullin, a longtime Gaetz adversary, seemed more receptive to confirming Gaetz earlier this week, but clarified to the Daily Beast on Tuesday that he has not made up his mind about the AG nomination.
As a sitting senator from Ohio, Vance might have more sway with his Republican colleagues in the chamber. The future vice president took office after the 2022 midterm elections, replacing retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman.
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