Three of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks faced skepticism and intense grilling from Democratic senators during their confirmation hearings on Thursday.
What we’re following:
1. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s second hearing: Kennedy had the second of two confirmation hearings for his Health and Human Services Secretary nomination. He appeared before the Health Committee a day after his hearing before the Finance Committee.
2. Tulsi Gabbard for DNI Secretary: Gabbard, Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, faced tough questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee over past comments about Russia and a 2017 visit with Syria’s now-deposed leader.
3. Kash Patel’s hearing: Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, encountered deeply skeptical questioning from Democratic senators Thursday about his loyalty to the president and stated desire to overhaul the bureau.
Here's the latest:
Tulsi Gabbard’s views on Russia, Syria, Trump and government surveillance — in her own words
As an unconventional pick to lead the nation’s intelligence service, Tulsi Gabbard faced a barrage of questions about her past comments on Syria, Russia, foreign surveillance and President Donald Trump at her confirmation hearing Thursday.
The former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii is Trump’s nominee to be the next director of national intelligence, a job created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that oversees and coordinates the work of more than a dozen intelligence agencies.
Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who served two tours in the Middle East, has alarmed some intelligence and national security officials in the U.S. and elsewhere with comments sympathetic to Russia and government leaker Edward Snowden, as well as her past opposition to a critical surveillance program.
▶ Read more about what Gabbard has said
Rubio defends a US funding freeze shutting down global aid programs
Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered his first public comments on an unprecedent U.S. funding freeze shutting down aid programs globally, saying Thursday “the U.S. government is not a charity.”
An executive order on President Donald Trump’s first day on the job ordered the funding stop and a global review of foreign assistance. Rubio pointed out his State Department has broadened exemptions from the freeze, to allow more life-saving food, medical services and other urgent assistance to continue.
“We don’t want to see people die and the like,” Rubio told broadcaster SiriusXM. Rubio said the 90-day review accompanying the funding freeze would be spent in a program-by-program review of which projects make “America safer, stronger, or more prosperous.”
Shutting down U.S.-funded programs during the review meant the U.S. was “getting a lot more cooperation” from recipients of humanitarian, development and security assistance, Rubio said. “Because otherwise you don’t get your money.”
Other exemptions allow military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue.
Treasury withdraws from global network dedicated to fighting climate change
The Treasury Department, led by its new Secretary Scott Bessent, has withdrawn from a global body of central banks and finance ministries dedicated to fighting climate change.
Also known as the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, the group was formed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, which the U.S. has also withdrawn from last week.
Treasury said in a statement that the network’s “role diverges from the traditional technical and coordinating roles of other international fora.”
Trump won’t say if he’ll keep U.S. troops in Syria
“We’ll make a determination on that,” Trump told reporters on Thursday when asked about his intentions for the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops deployed to Syria to fight the Islamic State group. “We’re not involved in Syria. Syria’s its own mess. They got enough messes over there. They don’t need us involved with everything.”
The U.S. had said for years that there were about 900 troops in Syria, but the Pentagon acknowledged in December that the U.S. troop levels had surged to about 2,000.
There has long been friction between the U.S. and Syria’s neighbors — Turkey and Iraq — about the ongoing presence of American forces in Syria and the need to keep them at a minimum level. Israel meanwhile has urged the U.S. to maintain a presence in the country.
Trump’s deliberations come as Syria negotiates a delicate moment of political transition following last month’s ouster of longtime President Bashar Assad.
Trump isn’t giving up on Egypt and Jordan taking in displaced Gaza residents
The leaders of both Mideast allies have flatly rejected Trump’s idea of moving displaced Palestinians from the war-torn area into their countries. But Trump in an exchange with reporters on Thursday insisted it’s going to happen.
“They’re going to do it,” Trump said when asked whether he could force Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians. “We do a lot for them and they’re going to do it,”
Trump does have leverage to wield over Jordan and Egypt, two strategically important U.S. allies that are heavily dependent on U.S. aid.
Trump first floated the idea last week, saying he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in Gaza’s now largely homeless population, so that “we just clean out that whole thing.”
Justice Jackson punches out her frustrations with the conservative Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has found an outlet for the frustration that can come with being in the court’s minority: boxing.
“I take boxing lessons,” Jackson told the The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview.
The first Black woman on the nation’s highest court has written more than a few dissents, in cases that ended affirmative action in college admissions and granted broad immunity from criminal prosecution to former presidents for official actions. She says “progress is not always a forward march.”
▶ Read more from Justice Jackson’s AP interview
Big Oil wants a lot from Trump. It has an ally in Doug Burgum
While it is not surprising that the governor of the third-largest oil producing state would have a close relationship with fossil fuel producers, records obtained by The Associated Press reveal that Doug Burgum’s administration eagerly assisted the industry even as he personally profited from the lease of family land to oil companies and leaned on those connections to build his national profile.
Those relationships are drawing a closer look with Burgum’s nomination to run the Interior Department. Many of the same oil and gas companies are certain to want things from him following his Senate confirmation.
A spokesman defended Burgum, saying he routinely “met with job creators and leaders who generated opportunities for the people of North Dakota.”
▶Read more on Burgum’s relationships with Big Oil
Trump will ‘probably’ decide tonight whether to tariff Canadian and Mexican oil
The president said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, but he’ll “probably” decide on Thursday night whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.
“We may or may not,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re going to make that determination probably tonight.”
Trump said his determination will be based on whether the price of oil charged by the two trading partners is fair, although the basis of his threatened tariffs pertains to stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl.
▶ Read more about Trump’s tariff plans for Canada and Mexico
Stenographers lament: Trump unleashes a flood of words on Washington
President Trump is talking, again, and the White House stenographers have a problem: He’s talking so much, they’re struggling to keep up.
It’s one of the most audible shifts from President Joe Biden. Trump understands that attention is a form of power, and has been speaking nearly nonstop, drowning out dissenting voices and leaving opponents struggling to be heard.
Now there are discussions about hiring additional staff to keep up with the workload, according to people with knowledge of the conversations who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.
According to numbers generated by Factba.se, Biden spent 2 hours and 36 minutes talking on camera and used 24,259 words in his first week in office. Trump’s stats: nearly 7 hours and 44 minutes and 81,235 words last week. That’s longer than watching the original “Star Wars” trilogy back-to-back-to-back, and more words than “Macbeth,” “Hamlet” and “Richard III” combined.
▶ Read more about Trump’s commentary
Democrats say Republicans constructed a facade around Patel
They confronted Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department with a vast catalog of his incendiary statements they say disqualify him for the post.
They cited his own actions and rhetoric in dozens of podcasts and books. They brought up his call for a purge of anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and news media.
Patel said he was being grossly mischaracterized.
One 2023 book Patel authored included a lengthy list of former government officials he accused of forming the so-called deep state. But Patel denied having an “enemies list” and said the FBI under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president’s adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes.
“There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by the FBI.”
▶ Read more about Patel’s confirmation hearing
Republican senator wants to know: Would Gabbard give Russia a pass?
Republicans as well as Democrats unleashed sharp criticism on Trump’s pick for national intelligence director, condemning Tulsi Gabbard for past comments sympathetic to Russia, for meeting with Syria’s now-deposed leader and for supporting government leaker Edward Snowden.
Gabbard said years of failures by America’s intelligence services require big changes. She said false or politicized intelligence has led to wars, foreign policy failures and the misuse of espionage.
“The bottom line is this must end,” she said.
Gabbard has won praise in Russian state-controlled media by echoing Russian propaganda justifying the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Republicans accused her of spreading Russian disinformation.
Kansas Republican Jerry Moran wanted to know: Would Russia “get a pass” from her?
“Senator I’m offended by the question,” Gabbard responded. “My sole focus, commitment and responsibility is about our own nation, our own security and the interests of the American people.”
▶ Read more on Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation hearing
The confirmation hearing for Kash Patel has concluded
Patel received a standing ovation and scattered applause from some in the audience. GOP senators then personally greeted Patel and his family and embraced for photos.
RFK Jr.’s vaccine views puts him on defensive as a key confirmation vote hangs in the balance
Kennedy’s long record of casting doubt on the safety of childhood vaccinations could jeopardize his confirmation for health secretary. If all the Democrats reject Kennedy’s nomination, he can only afford to lose three Republicans.
And when Kennedy refused Thursday to flatly reject a long-discredited theory that vaccines cause autism, despite years of studies and research that have found they do not, it clearly troubled Health Committee chairman Bill Cassidy, who is up for reelection next year.
The Louisiana Republican is a liver doctor who has regularly encouraged his constituents to vaccinate against COVID-19 and other diseases.
“If there’s any false note, any undermining of a mama’s trust in vaccines, another person will die from a vaccine preventable disease,” Cassidy said.
Kennedy also must win the swing votes of Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitch McConnell, who have raised concerns about Kennedy and also voted against Trump’s defense secretary nominee.
▶ Read more on Kennedy’s confirmation hearings
Trump’s orders take aim at critical race theory and antisemitism on college campuses
Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as “critical race theory” and other material dealing with race and sexuality or risk losing their federal money.
A separate plan calls for aggressive action to fight antisemitism on college campuses, promising to prosecute offenders and revoke visas for international students found to be “Hamas sympathizers.”
Both plans were outlined in executive orders signed by Trump on Wednesday. The measures seek to fulfill some of the Republican president’s core campaign promises around education, though it’s unclear how much power he has to enact the proposals.
▶ Read more about what’s included in the education-related orders
Brazil’s leader says Trump needs to respect other nations’ sovereignty
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was referring to Trump’s stated desire to acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal.
Lula also told journalists Thursday that “there will be reciprocity” if Trump imposes tariffs on Brazilian products.
“I want to respect the United States, and I want Trump to respect Brazil. That is all. If this happens, it’s good enough,” Lula said.
US cybersecurity agency’s future role in elections remains murky under the Trump administration
The nation’s cybersecurity agency has played a critical role in helping states shore up the defenses of their voting systems, but its election mission appears uncertain amid sustained criticism from Republicans and key figures in the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has not named a new head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and for the first time since it was formed, there are no plans for anyone in its leadership to address the main annual gathering of the nation’s secretaries of state, which was being held this week in Washington.
The agency formed in 2018 during the first Trump administration is charged with protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure, from dams and nuclear power plants to banks and voting systems. It is under the Department of Homeland Security, but CISA is a separate agency with its own Senate-confirmed director.
▶ Read more about where things stand at CISA
Patel says he’ll focus FBI’s efforts on combating violent crime
“I’m going to let the cops be cops and put handcuffs on the bad guys and put child molesters in prison and put murderers in prison,” Patel told lawmakers when asked what his plans for the bureau are.
Patel wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published this week that “violent crime is destroying families across the nation.”
There has been little discussion of national security issues throughout the hearing, which has focused largely on Patel’s past inflammatory statements.
That’s despite a heightened threat of international terrorism and an FBI investigation into a massive breach by Chinese hackers of American telecommunications companies.
Democrats go after Patel’s support of Jan. 6 defendants
In one of the more heated moments of the hearing, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff called on Patel to turn around and face the Capitol police officers in the hearing room.
It came as Schiff was criticizing Patel for producing a song featuring President Trump and a choir of jailed Jan. 6 defendants to help raise money for the families of those charged in the Capitol riot.
“If you have the courage to, look them in the eye, Mr. Patel. And tell them you’re proud of what you did. Tell them you’re proud that you raised money off of people that assaulted their colleagues, that pepper sprayed them, that beat them with poles,” Schiff said.
Patel fired back: “That’s an abject lie, you know it. I never, never, ever accepted violence against law enforcement.”
Rubio says Trump’s interest in Greenland and Panama is valid
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal are legitimate national security interests driven by growing concerns about Chinese activity in the Arctic and in Latin America.
Rubio said Thursday he could not predict if Trump would succeed in buying Greenland from Denmark or resuming American authority over the Panama Canal while he is in office. However, he said the attention that Trump will give to both would have an impact.
“What I think you can rest assured of is that four years from now, our interest in the Arctic will be more secure; our interest in the Panama Canal will be more secure,” Rubio said in an interview with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly.
Nominee Russ Vought advances for budget director despite uproar over funding freeze
Senate Budget Committee Republicans advanced Vought’s confirmation over the objections of Democrats who call him a “threat to democracy.”
Committee Republicans voted 11-0 in a rare session off the Senate floor after Democrats boycotted the meeting.
“He is a threat to our democracy,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the committee’s top Democrat. “We’re here to say that is not okay.”
Vought was a chief architect of Project 2025 and instrumental in the White House’s federal funding freeze this week, which sparked panic in communities across the country. Advocacy organizations challenged the freeze and the White House quickly rescinded it.
Cassidy remains deeply skeptical on what Kennedy would do for vaccinations
The Louisiana Republican approached Kennedy at the conclusion of the hearing for a brief handshake and exchange, after once again expressing deep skepticism over whether Kennedy would promote vaccinations through the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cassidy said that his experience as a physician has showed how imperative it was to stress the life-saving powers of vaccines.
Intel committee closes public hearing with Gabbard, next is classified session
The Senate Intelligence Committee has adjourned the confirmation hearing for Gabbard after nearly three hours.
Next up is a classified, closed session with the nominee, where members are able to question her more in depth on issues that are sensitive and could not be broached in a public hearing.
Sen. Cotton, the chair, ended the public hearing by saying he hopes to quickly move to a committee vote on Gabbard. Some members have raised concerns about whether the vote will happen in public or behind closed doors. Some Trump supporters want it to be public so that any Republicans who vote against her will be immediately identified.
A heated exchange between RFK Jr. and Bernie Sanders
Kennedy’s hearing is ending after a heated exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders.
As the Vermont Independent pressed Trump’s nominee on his views on vaccines, Kennedy shot back by saying that members of Congress, including Sanders, were receiving money from pharmaceutical companies.
The line drew cheers and applause from Kennedy’s supporters in the room.
Sanders wasn’t having any of it. He retorted that he doesn’t take money from organizations or groups that represent the drug-making industry.
Booker to Patel: ‘What are you hiding?’
Democrats are scrutinizing Patel’s appearance before a Washington grand jury investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after Patel received immunity for his testimony.
Patel, who has said he was present as Trump declassified broad categories of materials, was granted a limited form of immunity after invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during an earlier grand jury appearance.
Sen. Cory Booker pushed Patel to explain what he told the grand jury, but Patel told the Democrat to get a transcript of the secret proceeding instead.
Booker replied: “You are free to tell people. What are you hiding from Congress?”
A judge dismissed the classified documents case against Trump last year, ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.
Kennedy won’t identify the public health scientists he said could be fired
Kennedy was pressed about recent statements he’s made threatening to fire staffers at the National Institutes of Health and other public health agencies.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks asked Kennedy if there is a “watch list” of scientists who could be targeted for termination.
“Not that I know of,” Kennedy responded.
Alsobrooks is a Democrat representing Maryland, where NIH is headquartered. When she asked which federal scientists should be replaced, Kennedy said: “the ones who are corrupt.”
And for the second day in a row, Kennedy falsely accused NIH of quashing research into multiple causes of Alzheimer’s. The NIH’s $3.8 billion budget for Alzheimer’s and similar dementias funds researching a range of factors that may contribute to the disease.
Dems question whether Gabbard will push back if Trump asks her to break the law
In a round of follow up questions, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden asked Gabbard if she would be willing to refuse an illegal order from Trump, specifically regarding the role of inspector generals who the president fired in his first week back in office.
“If President Trump orders you to withhold appropriated funds from the inspector general, would you refuse that illegal order?” Wyden asked.
Her response: “I don’t believe for a second President Trump would ask me to do something that would break the law.”
Gabbard retreats from her criticism of Soleimani killing
When Trump approved a 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Gabbard at the time denounced it, saying there was no justification.
Soleimani had been an ally of Syria’s Assad and a top player in attacks by Iran and its allies.
Asked by New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gilliland whether she still opposed the strike, Gabbard indicated no. It turned out that “President Trump was right,” and there was no escalation in the Middle East as she had feared, Gabbard said.
Gabbard didn’t directly answer a related question on whether she agreed with Trump’s decision to pull security from his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and an aid who have been targeted for assassination by Iran because of that strike.
‘Mr. Snowden is watching these proceedings’
GOP Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said Snowden has been watching Gabbard’s confirmation hearing and that he hoped she could disavow on national television what he did.
Young referenced a social media post Snowden made earlier Thursday saying Gabbard “will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today.”
“I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance,” Snowden wrote in the X post.
Young said that this may be the “rare instance” where he agrees with Snowden and that the nominee should publicly distance herself from him despite her previous comments calling him “brave.”
She has refused to say Snowden was a traitor.
GOP senators push back on ‘conspiracy theorist’ label of Patel
Republican senators have repeatedly dismissed characterizations that Patel is a conspiracy theorist, extremist or sycophant, frequently citing longstanding grievances held by the GOP base against federal investigators.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., invoked the “Russia collusion hoax” multiple times in his remarks. He then asked Patel to promise to only go after “bad” actors in the agency.
“Don’t go over there and burn that place down. Go over there and make it better. Can you commit to us today, that you will do that?” Kennedy said.
Patel promised to make the agency “the premier law enforcement agency in the world.”
The Associated Press
