The tough questions facing Trump’s candidates

Some of Donald Trump’s key allies will face criticism from senators this week as part of a process to approve or reject them for the roles the president-elect has nominated them for.

The hearings, which begin Tuesday, are the first chance for senators to publicly challenge some of Trump’s more controversial choices.

Candidates must then be confirmed by a vote. And while the upper house of Congress is now controlled by Trump’s GOP — just three defections could be enough to deny a nominee a job.

Here are some of the tough questions these nominees are likely to face.

One of the first confirmation hearings is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched.

Trump’s nominee for defense secretary is expected to face questions Tuesday about his lack of management experience and his alleged heavy drinking.

Senators could question Hegseth about an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in a California hotel room in 2017, according to Politico.

Hegseth denies this allegation and maintains that the meeting was consensual. The claim was investigated, but Hegseth — a military veteran and former Fox News anchor — was never arrested or charged.

Hegseth and the unnamed accuser then reached a confidential financial settlement in 2023. His lawyer later told The Associated Press that the payment was intended to prevent a frivolous lawsuit.

Trump stood by his pick, who is among the nominees who have been busy wooing senators in recent days to try to muster the necessary votes.

Rival Democrats on the committee also plan to address Hegseth’s past opposition to women serving in combat positions in the military, US media reported.

In the spotlight Wednesday will be the woman who may be tasked with fulfilling one of Trump’s most important campaign promises — what his team called the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in American history.

As the president-elect’s pick for homeland security secretary, Noem may be questioned about the practicalities of taking that pledge. A mass deportation program on the proposed scale would likely face logistical or legal difficulties, experts say.

Noem could also face questions about other potential immigration policies, such as Trump’s promise to end birthright citizenship.

She is a loyal and vocal supporter of the president-elect’s promises, which is in line with other nominees and appointees for Trump’s second term in the White House.

The man chosen to lead Trump’s foreign policy agenda was once on the other side of a confirmation hearing for a Trump nominee for secretary of state.

During the 2017 session he had Rex Tillerson call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, which Tillerson refused to do.

If that session signaled a divergence of views between Rubio and Trump — then rivals — the two seem much closer eight years later.

Rubio is now in the running for one of the most coveted jobs in the Trump administration and is expected to face relatively little opposition on his way to confirmation.

But senators on Wednesday could test his loyalty with a series of questions about future US support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Trump has cast it as a drain on US resources, a view that may clash with Rubio’s hawkish views on foreign policy.

Another candidate facing a possible test of loyalty to Trump in a Senate committee hearing (which has yet to be scheduled) is one of the officials who will be tasked with implementing Trump’s tough tariffs.

Trump has threatened tariffs on imports of various goods coming into the US – including from some of its top trading partners – in what he says is an attempt to protect US jobs.

Lutnick, the billionaire chief executive of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, has embraced that proposal — even though the position is at odds with others in his industry and some leading economists.

He is likely to face direct questions about the impact of the new tariffs on the U.S. economy and consumers.

Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence could be questioned by both Republicans and Democrats over her past comments about US adversaries such as Russia and Syria.

Gabbard, another military veteran, routinely opposes America’s interventionist foreign policy. In 2017, while still a Democratic congresswoman, she met with then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and cast doubt on US intelligence assessments accusing him of using deadly chemical weapons.

And after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine five years later, it blamed NATO and repeated the Kremlin’s claim that there were US-funded biolabs in Ukraine.

Gabbard spoke about the need for talks with countries like Russia.

Democrats are reportedly delaying her hearing until background checks are completed.

One of Trump’s most unconventional picks, like Gabbard, was on a political journey that actually began in the Democratic Party.

Kennedy has since become a Trump supporter and was rewarded with this nomination.

He has no medical qualifications – which can present a difficult initial line of questioning on both sides of the political divide.

His past statements about established science can also be scrutinized. He has repeatedly made widely debunked claims about vaccine harm, but has denied being anti-vaccine in general.

On other issues — such as scrutiny of dietary supplements — Kennedy enjoys broader support.

Some critics of Trump’s choice to lead the FBI have expressed doubts that Patel is qualified to lead America’s main law enforcement agency. Others share concerns that he may be working to retaliate against Trump’s opponents.

“We’re going to go after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig the presidential election,” he said earlier, citing Trump’s baseless claim about the 2020 election.

Although former law enforcement officials have questioned his ability to lead the agency, Patel’s experience as a lawyer and in a number of national security roles has been valued by the Trump team and some Republicans.

Patel has a stated goal of dramatically changing the way the FBI operates, including purging some of its top employees.

North America Correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of US politics in his twice-weekly US election newsletter. UK readers can register here. Those outside the UK can register here.