FBI background checks and other paperwork have contributed to some Senate confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet choices not yet being scheduled, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Newsmax on Monday morning.
A member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Johnson appeared on "Wake Up America" and was asked why hearings for such nominees as Tulsi Gabbard (national security) and Kash Patel (FBI) have not been scheduled while other nomination hearings begin this week.
"I know there are some issues in terms of getting the FBI background checks and some of the other paperwork done," Johnson told co-hosts Sharla McBride and Marc Lotter. "Again, some of these things take time."
The senator immediately added that Senate GOP members are eager to provide Trump with the team he wants.
"I think certainly Republicans in the Senate, we are absolutely dedicated to as soon as everything is in order to hold those hearings and take those confirmation votes, get people, you know, in their positions," he said.
"President Trump needs fighters in place. It's not going to be easy to tame the deep state. He needs the people he wants, serving his administration, serving him."
McBride asked Johnson what he was expecting to see in the hearing for Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, who will be questioned by the Foreign Relations Committee beginning Tuesday.
"Well, I'm not on Armed Services, so I won't be in his confirmation hearing," Johnson said. "But I met with Pete and got a lot of phone calls from people who've worked with him as well. And they were very good references.
"I think he'll be able to handle the questions. There'll probably be some pretty pointed questions, probably coming from both sides of the aisle. But again, based on my meeting with him, I think Pete will do just fine."
Johnson also spoke about the expected reconciliation legislation that Republicans plan to pass to address Trump's southern border security proposals and tax plan.
"I still think a two-step process makes more sense," Johnson said. "The tax provisions and making sure that we return to a pre-pandemic level of spending, that's not going to be easy. That's going to take time.
"I want to be able to do that right … As long as we're making sure we don't have a massive automatic tax increase from the last tax bill we did, I want to make sure that we try and simplify and rationalize our tax code as well. Again, that's all complex."
He said border security should be less challenging.
"What's not complex is giving him [Trump] the money he needs to secure our border, his primary campaign promise," Johnson said. "So, to me, it just makes more sense.
"From my standpoint, I think what will end up happening is the Senate will move in our direction on a two-step plan. We'll see how the House proceeds and, at some point in time, we'll merge our efforts. But again, we're working with each other. We're collaborating a lot of bicameral communication along with this administration. So, I'm pretty confident, whether it's one bill, two bills or, as somebody else said, ten bills, we'll get this done."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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