Steve, update us on what we know about these new det involving Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for a US defense secretary. Yeah, this is an incident that first came to light in the after Trump nominated Hegseth to become his defense secretary. After a very quick period where he was considering other n and suddenly pivoted to Hegseth.
And here's what we are learning Texas attorney. His attorney said that Texas paid a woman who accused him of sexual assaul in a settlement agreement that also included a confidentiality clause. Now, this is all dating back to an October 2017 incident, which his lawyer describes as, quote, a consensual sexual encounter.
Now, they're also pointing out and we should point out ourselve that he was not charged, this the city of Monterey, Calif where this took place, will not be releasing the full report at this time. We did try to reach out to the victim in this case, and she declined to be interview partially because she was not su what she was allowed to authoriz due to this confidentiality agre We do not know how much the settlement was for, and we are told by the lawyer that he agreed to this settlemen because he was worried about losing his job at Fox News This all transpired at the during the middle of the MeToo movement in which several Fox News high p figures were caught up in some of the accusations Fred. All right.
Steve Kantor, now, thanks so muc All right. Joining me right now to talk more about Trump's transition is Tim Mitchell. She is a Washington corresponden for the Atlanta Journal Constitu T a great to see you.
Thanks for having me. So what lengths is Trump going to take to make sure his picks, like Gates, can endure scrutiny? So right now it's looking like h is a to put pressure on Republic particularly in the Senate, both privately and publicly.
He's also floated the idea of recess appointments, basically having the Senate kind of avoid on some of these more controvers Cabinet picks altogether by allowing Trump to appoint them when Congress is not in session. The question is, will Trump dig or will the Senate? We've heard from top senators, even Trump allies, who've indicated they want to treat these Cabinet appointees like an which means hearings, which means committee stops before you get to the floor, which means a vote on the floor.
Who's going to give? Because we know that when you bring some of these more controversial picks like Gates, like Head said, there might not be the votes to confirm them. We don't know what Trump would d but we also don't know if there are enough Republicans who are willing to go against who Trump wants to serve on his and actually vote against Trump appointees.
Oh, we'll get to a little bit of in a minute, too. And I wonder, you know, your thoughts on this. You know, because earlier today, House Spe Mike Johnson told our Jake TAPPER the House Ethics Committee report on Gates should not be released because Gates resigned Congress so is it the case potentially th Senate will subpoena the report, or at least the committee will subpoena the report?
So that's another question about whether there are Republicans who are willing to side with Democrats, for example, to vote to subpoena the reports, to bring Matt Gaetz in for heari and questioning what other people they might want to hear from. You know, there have been you know, there's precedent for confirmation hearings to bri you know, other other speakers, other witnesses like witnesses, Eric? The witnesses.
Yes, we've seen that with Suprem justice confirmations. So there are other things they could do in addition to trying to get their hands on the report. Again, the to me, the big question is, are there Republicans who are willing to risk getting on Trump's bad side by, you know, pushing back on these appointees by pushing to get that report?
There's also a question, quite f the more people ask for the repo the the the more pressure of a possibili it looks. Right. Right.
Okay. And so now more on the who will side with whom. You know, maybe this is another little window into that because this morning on the Sund talk shows, a few members of Congress descri you know, both the landscape on Capitol Hi and navigate 88 under the incoming administratio Take a listen.
We have a unified government now because of Donald Trump. No one else, Donald J. Trump made that happen.
And so now it is incumbent upon the House of Representative and the Senate to look at President Trump's agenda and his mission statement. He's going to have a mission sta and we do not waiver of that mission statement. We follow it every single word o These people are manifestly unqualified and, you they're not prepared to run the very complicated organizatio they've been asked to run.
Well, the Republican senator who votes to confirm Matt Yates Kennedy or Tulsi Gabbard will be remembered by history as somebody who completely gave up their responsibility to to Donal Wow. Huh. So, I mean, will this be a test of allegianc country or President?
I guess in some ways, yes. But again, we've been here befor We've seen highly controversial be confirmed by members of the president's pa And some people felt that it hurt them at the ballot box, other others didn't. And so I you know, I think one of the question is of the senators that we know may have their concerns about a pick like Matt Gaetz, for example, which ones are willing to actual against him.
Those are two very different thi But they're not just factoring i how they feel about Matt Gaetz and how they feel about Presiden Some of these senators will be on the ballot in 2026, so they're factoring in how this will play back home. Some of them are in states where voting against Trump may play poorly. Some of them may be in states where voting against Trump actually helps them come across as independent minde So all of that is kind of part of the calculus.
That's why Trump has said, Hey, don't vote at all. Just let me appoint who I want during the recess. Now, that also carries risks.
You know, it's a lot on the senator's plat and we're just going to have to where it shakes out. We're going to see which senator are the ones to watch who may block the system. Okay.
One last question. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries acknowledges there will be challenges, but he remains focused on import issues. Take a listen.
I've congratulated incoming President Donald Trump, and as House Democrats, we look forward to working with the incoming administration whenever and wherever possible to find bipartisan common ground to solve problems for the American people. That's what the American people want us to d to deliver real results on the issues that matter. But at the same period of time, we will continuously push back against far right extremism.
Whenever necessary, we will protect Social Security. We will protect Medicare. We will protect the Affordable C We will protect reproductive fre and we will protect the progress that we've made on having a sustainable planet.
How will this test the unity of Democrats? Yeah, I mean, I will say that, you know, for the past two cycles where we this past the past two years, I'm sorry, where Democrats have been in the minority, they've shown that they have been able to stay Republicans are the one who stru to keep their slim majority all on one page, all with the same message. Now, I do think under Trump, Rep will look a little bit more unif I think the question now will Democrats remain patient an on one accord as they remain in the minority?
I think people are willing to give Hakeem Jeffries time because they do understand that, you know, he's in line to become the first black speaker of the House. He's with a new kind of leadersh that, again, has only been in po about two years. But I do think there could be some restlessness if members, the Democrats are in the minorit for much longer.
They're hoping to change that, of course, in the midterms in 20 All right, Mitchell, we'll leave it there. Great to see you.
