The calculus for Republican senators already evaluating their professional qualifications as they choose whether to accompany their party leader on important government positions has been complicated by the serious sexual impropriety allegations against three of President-elect Donald Trump’s high-profile Cabinet picks.
Former Representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., his choice for attorney general, is charged with paying two other women for sex and having sex with a 17-year-old. (On Thursday afternoon, Gaetz withdrawn from consideration.) Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for defense secretary, was charged with sexual assault. Additionally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his choice for secretary of health and human services, was charged this summer with groping a former family babysitter.
The accusations have been refuted by Gaetz and Hegseth. “I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world,” Kennedy stated in response to the accusation made against him during the summer. He apologized to the woman by text message this year, according to NBC News.
Although Trump has rejected several accusations of sexual misbehavior, he was found guilty of sexual abuse in a civil trial last year for an alleged 1990s incident, which he also denies. Now that he has won the president once more, he is using his early political capital to support appointees who have also been accused of sexual misconduct.
The president is a change agent sent to upset the status quo, and few institutions are more despised by the public than Congress, so I do believe it is smart politics for him to start a fight with them. But when he wants to fight over Matt Gaetz, he undermines that message, according to Marc Short, an NBC News contributor and former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence.
“I just think the people around the president know he wants to see them fight through bad news cycles,” Short continued, referring to the change from the previous couple of decades when we didn’t disclose nannies’ payments as disqualifying to the present day.
The allegations against Trump s picks
When Trump nominated Gaetz for a Cabinet position, his years of controversy were brought back into the public eye, but Gaetz quickly withdrew.
The Justice Department concluded its sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz, who resigned from Congress after Trump chose him, and did not charge him with any crimes, even though one of his former partners entered a guilty plea to charges that included sex trafficking of a minor. Prior to his resignation, a House Ethics Committee inquiry had been under progress.
A lawyer for two women who appeared before the Ethics Committee told NBC News that Gaetz paid them for sex on many occasions, including at a small, invitation-only party in Florida, as part of the investigation’s findings that were made public on Monday. The attorney further stated that one lady witnessed Gaetz having sex with her 17-year-old companion, but she thought Gaetz was unaware of her status as a juvenile and terminated their sexual relationship until she reached legal adulthood.
Even though Hegseth insists he is innocent, he has been accused of sexually assaulting a lady in 2017. He refuted the accusation through a lawyer who said the encounter was consensual and that the two signed a civil, confidential settlement agreement.
The Washington Post claimed that a friend of the accuser wrote a document to the Trump transition team, but NBC News hasn’t independently examined it. It was connected to the interaction, according to Hegseth’s lawyer Tim Parlatore.
Additionally, Vanity Fair released a long profile of Kennedy this year that featured an interview with a former nanny for his family, who claimed he touched her. Kennedy dismissed the accusation when asked about it on a podcast this summer, stating, “I am not a church boy.”
Short pointed out that Republican senators will have to deal with challenging political cross-pressures before the Gaetz confirmation vote, in particular. None of the Republican senators have said they will not vote for Gaetz, even though some have stated that they would like to read the House Ethics Committee’s report on him.
Republican senators who are running for reelection in 2026 are in a difficult position because it is feared that Trump may assist in assembling a primary opponent if they vote against his pick. However, a more challenging general election is all but assured if they choose someone like Matt Gaetz. According to Short, you’re in a catch-22.
Several Cabinet candidates in the past few decades, including several during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, have been forced to resign due to allegations that they hired undocumented domestic workers. In contrast, nominees during the administrations of President Barack Obama and Trump’s first term were occasionally successful. Others have experienced charges of personal or professional wrongdoing in addition to financial difficulties.
Trump’s previous selections have also not been exempt.
Trump’s choice for labor secretary, Andy Puzder, withdrew from the confirmation process in 2017 due to criticism of his business record, allegations that he had recruited an undocumented domestic worker, and the release of a video in which his ex-wife accused him of domestic violence. Politico was informed at the time by a representative that his ex-wife’s remarks were retracted, and Puzder claimed he was not aware the employee was an undocumented immigrant.
After The Post revealed domestic abuse cases involving Trump’s family members, interim Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew from nomination to become the permanent head of the Pentagon in 2018. (Shanahan stated that the reporting presented an inaccurate and insufficient account of the episodes.)
Amid accusations of professional wrongdoing, Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician at the time and later a member of Congress, withdrew his name from consideration to head the Department of Veterans Affairs in the same year. (Jackson described the accusations as wholly untrue and made up.)
Additionally, in an attempt to discredit Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee who denied the sexual assault accusation, Trump directly appealed to young males at the end of 2018. Kavanaugh was approved.
Trump told reporters, “You can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of, and it’s a very scary time for young men in America.”
He replied that even if you have lived a flawless life, someone could still accuse you of anything.
Trump sticking with his choices
In preparation for the confirmation hearings the following year, Team Trump is now standing by its choices and stepping up its efforts on Capitol Hill.
According to a transition official who spoke to NBC News, Gaetz informed Trump, “This whole thing is going to be an uphill battle,” when Trump first called to tell him of his intention to nominate him as attorney general. According to the insider, Trump has been calling Republican senators himself and responded that it was a fight he wanted to wage.
Another transition official addressed the possible challenges of confirming some of Trump’s contentious choices, saying: The president wants these nominees in his administration, and it is our job to make that happen. We just won an unprecedented election, so we know this will be difficult, but we will get it done.
On Wednesday, Trump briefly informed reporters that he was not reevaluating Gaetz’s nomination. Additionally, according to a person familiar with the arrangements, vice president-elect JD Vance traveled to Capitol Hill this week to set up meetings with Gaetz and Hegseth for important GOP senators.
When questioned about the specifics of the accusations made against Gaetz, Hegseth, and Kennedy as well as any issues that would make their confirmations more difficult, Trump’s win was a clear mandate from the American people to alter the current quo in Washington, according to a statement released by Karoline Leavitt, the new White House press secretary and a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition. For this reason, he has appointed intelligent and well-respected foreigners to his government.
Leavitt said that he will keep supporting them in their battle against anyone attempting to thwart the MAGA goal.
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