Mark Halperin, the seasoned Washington, D.C. journalist with decades of experience navigating the halls of power, said on Friday that he believes it is “likely” all of President-elect Donald Trump’s most controversial appointments will be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Speaking on 2WayTV, the “Game Change” journalist pointed to Trump’s victory in the popular vote as a factor that could “change the calculation” for Republican senators, who may fear a backlash from their constituents.
“No normal president” would have nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead Health and Human Services following the outcry over his selecting Matt Gaetz for U.S. attorney general, Halperin stated, “but he did. And in a normal transition, the nomination of Bobby Kennedy to HHS — enormously controversial on multiple levels — would be like the biggest thing, and it would raise questions about the judgment of the operation.” But that said, Halperin believes Trump’s just being shrewd.
“That’s not what we’re dealing with here. We’re dealing with almost five unfathomable choices for the normal rules,” Halperin continued. “Tens of millions of Americans share Donald Trump’s beliefs about these departments and about what needs to be done.” In just four days, Trump has sparked a media frenzy by selecting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Matt Gaetz, along with Tulsi Gabbard for the position of intelligence chief and Pete Hegseth, a veteran and Fox News host, as secretary of defense.
He has urged Senate Republicans to support the idea of “recess appointments,” which would allow him to bypass traditional confirmation rules and make appointments while the Senate is out of session. In the end, regardless of anything else, Halperin believes Trump will ultimately get his way.
“It now falls to John Thune (R-SD) [the new GOP Majority Leader] and his fifty-two colleagues to decide what they want to do about this. There’s the prerogatives of the Senate to not be rolled by the executive branch. There’s individual senators’ views about the fitness of these five and others to serve in these jobs. But there’s also the reality that it’s an incoming Republican president who won the popular vote,” said Halperin.
“You hear Democrats already saying Trump is forfeiting his mandate, he’s forfeiting his political capital, he’s dooming his term in the first one hundred days and any legislative progress by asking the senators to devote time to deciding up or down. I continue to put my finger on the side of, I think it’s more likely all five will be confirmed than most people do,” Halperin said.
Thune, elected by Senate Republicans to lead the majority in 2025, already faces significant challenges. Moderates like Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have voiced strong opposition to Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was previously involved in an investigation into alleged sex trafficking, potentially becoming America’s top cop. Without their support for a Trump appointee like Gaetz, Thune must rally the rest of the Republican caucus into line and rely on Vice President-elect J.D. Vance to serve as the tie-breaker.
