Republican senators seek ‘normal process’ to confirm Trump nominees, torn by FBI background checks

As Republican senators returned to Washington after the Thanksgiving holiday to answer a new round of questions about President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, a familiar refrain emerged: trust the confirmation process.

“That’s why we’re going to follow the normal process, review all the nominees and give everyone an opportunity to ask those questions in a hearing,” said Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, when asked about the new allegations regarding Pete Hegseth. , Trump’s choice for secretary of defense.

“That’s why our process is so important,” said Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, when asked about the controversial reports surrounding Hegseth.

“The president is allowed to name his people that we will have to see,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., when asked about Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI. “I don’t know Kash Patel, we need to put him through the process.”

“Like every other nominee, he’ll go through a process, a confirmation hearing, vetting and everything else. They’ll all have to go through that, and we’ll see where the process takes us,” the new Senate Republican leader said , John Thune. said about Patel.

The responses did not elicit glowing support for some of Trump’s proposed candidates. And while many Republicans are calling for due processes to be followed when considering these nominations, there remains at least some divergence on what a normal ordering process would look like.

Senators torn over FBI background checks

Although vetting of nominations traditionally includes an FBI background check, Republican senators are torn over whether such a check is 100% necessary for confirmation.

Thune told ABC News that the background check issue will hopefully be “resolved.” While noting that there are “other alternatives” for obtaining information, Thune said the FBI background check is “historically” the best method.

“I hope that at some point they will be able to resolve this background check issue. At this point, I don’t know exactly how it’s going to be resolved, but I think they will. I think that l “The administration understands that there needs to be a thorough vetting of all of these applications,” Thune said. “And that, you know, historically the best place to do that has been through the FBI. They have other alternatives, you know, obviously, I guess the chairman of our committee will just want to make sure that ‘they have the context that they must evaluate these names carefully.

Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee that will be responsible for handling Hegseth’s nomination, told ABC News that the panel is “looking at how this is traditionally done and getting information on that as to about who actually orders the FBI background check.” “.

But when asked if he wanted the FBI to do a background check on him, he said they would.

“I would prefer a full background check, yes,” Wicker said.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he thought there would be background checks and would like to see them.

“My preference would be an FBI background check, and I’m not, I don’t know if we won’t have an FBI background check. I know we have a very good staff and very good investigators, and they work closely with the FBI, so I’m not at all concerned about not having background checks on these candidates, but also on those proposed by a president I think it’s a false question. , Kennedy said.

Some senators kept their cards closed on this issue.

Cornyn ignored questions about whether he wanted to see the FBI do background checks on candidates like Patel.

But others are ready to follow Trump’s lead.

“My position is that whatever President Trump decides to do, that’s what I will support,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

Lawmakers react to Kash Patel nomination

No Republican senator has outright rejected Patel as Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department, although many said they would wait for Patel to go through the Senate Judiciary Committee before making a decision on him.

But ultimately, for Patel to be installed, current FBI Director Chris Wray would have to be fired or resign.

There appears to be a general feeling among Republicans that they would accept Wray being expelled.

“I am, I am,” Capito said when asked if she would be comfortable with Trump removing Wray to install Patel.

Sen. Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, said she liked Patel and added that the FBI needed someone new to “go in and clean up.”

Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, said it was reasonable for Trump to want to put in place someone he feels comfortable with after his experiences during his first administration and in the years since. follow up.

“Think about what this guy went through, his house was raided, he was indicted, so I think he’s probably in a position that you’re familiar with, and then think about it in his first term, he had a special prosecutor, so I think he probably wants someone who he knows will be loyal,” Scott said.