To fill roles, Trump eyes own rules
Cabinet appointees thus far reflect no change in strategy
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump won election by torching every rule in the political book, calling government officials “very, very stupid” and promising to hire the best people to fulfill “every dream you’ve ever dreamed.”
Now, as Trump assembles his governing team, he and the Republican-controlled Senate are facing their first test of what that means, and whether the old confirmation rules — where those serving the president are subject to intense scrutiny over past comments, deeds and potential conflicts of interest — still apply.
Republican senators already have begun to debate how much leeway to give Trump, and which, if any, battles to fight with a leader who ran against both Washington and the Republican Party that many of them continue to revere.
The GOP will hold a narrow majority in the Senate when Trump takes office in January. Nominees no longer need 60 votes to win approval, except to the Supreme Court, thanks to rule changes Democrats made in 2013 to make confirmations easier.
Even though Trump’s nominees can win confirmation without Democrats, they can only afford two Republican defections to secure victory if Democrats are united. That places extraordinary power — and pressure — on Republicans who choose to dissent from Trump. The risks are many. Voters who backed Trump, having chosen the ultimate outsider, may want more of the same from the people leading government agencies.
Trump showed during the election that crossing him invites retribution that could exact a large political price among Republican voters.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., selected Friday as attorney general, was rejected by the Senate for a federal judgeship in 1986 over accusations of racism and is the Senate’s leading immigration hard-liner. As a sitting senator, he likely has a leg up in winning confirmation from his colleagues, but that is not a sure thing.
Two of Trump’s leading candidates for secretary of state, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, could also face opposition.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, an early GOP opponent of Trump’s, took a step last week in declaring opposition to both because they supported the war in Iraq.
Giuliani, one of Trump’s closest advisers, also faces scrutiny for his work on behalf of foreign governments and an Iranian opposition group that was officially designated as a terrorist organization at the time Giuliani represented them.
Most Republicans have yet to weigh in on Trump’s future picks, particularly as many names remain in the talking stages. Still, they have urged Trump not to defy all convention, pointing to the complexity of leading government agencies.
“I would hope that he’s not just trying to pick different people,” Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican said. “He’s trying to pick competent people.”
Some Democrats think Trump will flood the Senate with so many controversial picks that lawmakers will be forced to accept some who would ordinarily provoke a fight.
“They’re going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the Senate,” said Jim Manley, a former Democratic leadership aide.
Manley named several Republicans, including Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, who might join Democrats in opposition to some of Trump’s picks. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a conservative Republican who was one of Trump’s most highprofile critics during the campaign, might also be a target for Democratic alliances.
But Manley did not think they could count on more than a few battles.
Trump’s selection Friday of Rep. Mike Pompeo, RKan., to lead the CIA is an example of a sharply ideological nominee whose credentials are not likely to be questioned. The former Army officer, a Harvard Law School graduate, was one of the most relentless critics of the Obama administration’s handling of the 2012 assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, an issue that united Republican partisans as it infuriated Democrats.
Trump may reserve his most controversial choices for slots that do not require Senate confirmation. One of Trump’s first selections, Steve Bannon for a lead White House advisory role, has put Democrats on edge and made some Republicans uncomfortable because he has been accused of promoting white nationalism.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump’s pick for national security adviser, has made inflammatory comments about Muslims. He also has drawn fire for his role as a paid lobbyist for foreign clients.
Both have been chosen for jobs on which the Senate has no say.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who lost his bid for the vice presidency, said he did not want to prejudge Trump’s other choices. But like many Democrats, he was eager to throw the spotlight on Bannon.
“We should never normalize connections to antiSemitism or white nationalism,” he said. Los Angeles Times’ David Lauter and Lisa Mascaro contributed.