As he tapped former congressman and TV host Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary, President-elect Donald Trump pushed to confirm his nominees for top posts in his incoming administration, including his ethics-plagued attorney general, Matt Gaetz, in what promises to be an early test of strength in the Republican-controlled Senate.

CNN reported that Trump is in contact with senators “to pressure them” to confirm Gates early next year, despite “increasing counter-pressure” from Republican senators who want to see the House Ethics Committee’s report on Gates’ conduct regarding an intimate relationship he had with a minor. The controversy took another turn when the attorney for two women who appeared before the Ethics Committee, attorney Joel Lippard, revealed that they had testified that they had received money in exchange for “sexual favors” with Gates. One of them was quoted as saying that she had seen Gates in an intimate position with her underage friend in 2017.

Given this information, the president-elect has acknowledged in private conversations recently that Gates has a slim chance of being confirmed by the Senate. But he has shown no sign of withdrawing the nomination. He has seemed confident that his other, more questionable nominees will hold their ground, including Robert Kennedy as secretary of health and human services despite his skepticism about vaccines and common treatments; Fox News host Pete Hegseth, whose suitability for the job of defense secretary is questionable; and Tulsi Gabbard, a favorite of Russian media, as director of national intelligence. All of them have in common that they are staunch Trump loyalists to his “America First” and “Make America Great Again” slogans, as well as hardliners on China, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.

Senators split

The ethics committee report has become a major crisis for the second Trump administration, as it could lead to a defection of a handful of Republican senators who oppose Gaetz’s nomination. House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted before a meeting of the ethics committee that the report should not be released, because Gaetz resigned from his congressional position last week and therefore no longer falls under congressional rules.

But that justification hasn’t convinced some senators, who are under pressure from Trump to support his pick. It’s possible that enough senators would be willing to risk their careers to oppose Gaetz’s nomination, though it’s unclear what Trump’s backup plan would be if Gaetz falters. The New York Times reported that Trump’s personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, could be a backup.

Trump has threatened to retire or defeat most of the congressional Republicans who opposed him in his first term. Since the defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump has made clear that he will not tolerate any significant opposition from the GOP majorities in the House and Senate.

However, Gaetz could also be confirmed, along with the other three candidates who have caused such a stir in Washington. Trump has wasted no time in moving forward and personally lobbying senators, but one thing is certain: his four choices would have had almost no chance of being confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate in Washington, which was in place before 2024.

Controversial appointments

In addition to Gates, Hegseth faces allegations that he also assaulted a woman. Hegseth, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, also faces questions about whether he has the experience to run a Defense Department with an annual budget of $850 billion, three million employees and 750 military bases around the world.

Trump’s choice of Kennedy also raised questions, not only because he is a vaccine skeptic but also because he supports abortion rights and has declared war on the pharmaceutical and food industries that have long funded the Republican Party. His choice of Gabbard cast a heavy shadow because she blamed the United States and NATO for “provoking” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hegseth could lead Trump’s efforts to remove generals and other senior Pentagon leaders he sees as impediments to his policy agenda. Reuters reported last week that Trump’s transition team was preparing lists of Pentagon officials to be fired. The team is also considering whether to try some current and former officers who were directly involved in the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in a military tribunal, NBC News reported.

Trump's White House press secretary, Carolyn Leavitt, said the president-elect had won "a resounding mandate from the American people to change the status quo in Washington," adding that he had selected "highly respected, brilliant outsiders to serve in his administration, and he will continue to stand behind them as they fight back against all those who seek to derail the MAGA agenda."

Davi for the Ministry of Transport

Meanwhile, the president-elect has chosen Sean Duffy as transportation secretary, a job that comes with a huge budget and sweeping safety responsibilities, and plays a key role in overseeing companies run by billionaire Elon Musk.

Duffy was an early reality TV star in the 1990s. He then served as district attorney for Ashland County, Wisconsin, before being elected to Congress in 2010, resigning his seat in 2019 after learning that his youngest child was due to be born with health problems.

Duffy was an early supporter of Trump, urging him in 2021 to run for governor of Wisconsin, saying he “would be great!”

Trump said in a statement Monday that Duffy “will prioritize excellence, efficiency, competitiveness and beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” and “will ensure that our ports and dams serve our economy without compromising our national security, and will make our skies safe again.”