Students, professors comment on confirmation processes

Confirmation hearings are well underway for some of President Donald J. Trump’s most prominent appointments to his cabinet. In stark contrast to Trump’s first administration, his second term ushered in a swift transition, and his team is rapidly moving forward to accomplish many of the goals he campaigned on. 

Trump’s confirmed cabinet features an impressive array of conservative leaders, among them Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State; retired U.S. Army Major and Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense; and former Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Trump’s team also features some highly controversial picks who are awaiting confirmation, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.

Kennedy, despite his original 2024 presidential campaign as a Democrat, has been unanimously opposed by Senate Democrats. During his run, he campaigned independently and swung a significant percentage of the country’s vote in August 2024 polls. He gathered wide support as Americans related to his more centrist positions and his goal to “Make America Healthy Again.” In August 2024, Kennedy suspended his campaign and began stumping for Trump with the understanding that he would be part of Trump’s cabinet as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, pressed Kennedy about how his skeptical attitude towards vaccines could impact his work in taking up anti-vaccine lawsuits after his tenure with the HHS. Senator Bernie Sanders, Vermont Independent, pushed Kennedy to respond to his prior statements on vaccines being linked to autism and his lawsuit against the FDA concerning the COVID-19 vaccine. 

In response to these allegations, Kennedy restated his goal to “make America healthy again.” He also hit back sharply against Congress, reminding them that “the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies, it’s in Congress too. Almost all the members of this panel are accepting … millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protecting your interests.” In reply to Sanders, Kennedy said he is not going into the HHS with any preconceived notions. Kennedy defended the lawsuits by reminding the chamber that the COVID-19 vaccine was being pushed on children under six without any testing or proof of efficacy. 

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who awaits Senate confirmation as Director of the National Institute of Health, highlighted similar data from his own work in California studying COVID-19 responses in a November 2024 lecture with Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. 

Kennedy has made clear that he is not seeking the role to eliminate vaccines or to stop parents from giving them to their children, but rather to increase transparency surrounding them and provide parents with adequate information to make a choice for their children. 

On February 4, the Senate Finance Committee voted 14–13 to advance the vote on Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate. Democrats voted unanimously to oppose the vote, while Senator Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, cast the key vote for Kennedy’s advancement after initially expressing uncertainty about Kennedy’s aptitude.

Tulsi Gabbard, former Democrat House Representative from Hawaii, is another nominee facing significant backlash. After being questioned on if she gives Russia “a pass in either her mind or heart,” Gabbard promptly defused the allegations. She responded, “I am offended by the question because my sole focus, commitment, and responsibility is about our own nation, our own security, and the interests of the American people.” Gabbard’s answer was a clear representation of Trump’s emphasis on staffing his second administration with those who will prioritize America and put her citizens first. 

During her hearing, Gabbard also cited alleged injustices perpetrated by leaders of intelligence agencies under the Biden administration, saying, “The FBI and intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin.” She added, “The CIA abused its power to spy on Congress, to dodge oversight, and lied about it.” 

Gabbard also mentioned the Biden administration’s allowance of “the FBI [to abuse] its power for political reasons to try to surveil Catholics who attend Traditional Latin Mass.” The report describes Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass to be potentially “violent extremists” and termed their surveillance as “threat mitigation.”

When asked about Trump’s nominees, Jack Rankin, a freshman in Keough Hall, said to the Rover, “I believe President Trump hopes to avoid encountering opposition within his administration, like he did in his first term, by picking people like Pete Hegseth who is far from the most experienced in his field, and whom he can easily overrule.”

Andrew Gould, Associate Professor of Political Science, told the Rover, “The fact that some of the nominees don’t have the standard resume is in fact what people are looking for. People are looking for changing the way business has been conducted in the American government.” 

Gould commented further, saying, “Objections to what have been going on, that bureaucrats are not elected and that they’ve been making decisions that have the force of law,” adding that “people have lost confidence that what governs our lives has actually been arrived at in a democratic fashion.”

Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, expressed concern over bureaucracy in Trump’s administration in members like Elon Musk who “[has] not been elected to anything, he’s not been confirmed to anything, and yet he’s got an enormous amount of power and he is accountable to nobody except President Trump.” 

While final votes will take place in the coming weeks to confirm the remaining members of Trump’s administration, the President has shown that he is ready to enact the changes he campaigned on. His cabinet nominees are vital representations of the mission he hopes to pursue. 

Ella Yates is a sophomore studying philosophy, political science, and theology from Western Springs, Illinois. Lately, her time has been filled with studying for her never-ending cycle of Latin quizzes and daydreaming about going to Rome. Si aliquid linguam Latinam cum ea vult renovare, email eyates4@nd.edu.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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