Trump cabinet confirmation hearings live updates: Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio lead picks in Senate firing line

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill for DailyMail.com

During Bondi’s opening remarks, her first order of business was thanking her many family members for traveling to Washington, D.C., to support her during the hearing.

‘I would not be here without my family. And if you can bear with me for just a moment, a lot of them have made a very long trip, and I wrote them all down so I don’t forget anyone,’ she said.

Her mother, children, husband, and many in-laws are all in attendance.

‘If you want to get dirt on me, these women have known me since I was a child, seriously,’ Bondi joked.

‘So thank you for indulging me in that they’ve all made a very long trip to be here and thank you for holding my hearing as well and not just coming in. I appreciate that.’

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy appeared for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday to be the next Transportation Secretary.

He is the second Fox News host to face confirmation for a position in President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet after Pete Hegseth’s hearing on Tuesday for Defense Secretary.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will grill Duffy, a former MTV reality television star, on his qualifications to lead a Department focused on infrastructure and transportation.

The father-of-nine is now a co-host of The Bottom Line on Fox Business and a contributor on Fox News.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter:

Senator Rick Scott of Florida is introducing his fellow Floridian Senator Marco Rubio at his confirmation before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio is President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State.

The Florida senator is expected to be confirmed with bipartisan support having served in the Senate since 2011.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill for DailyMail.com

The National Border Patrol Council announced they are fully backing Donald Trump’s selection Pam Bondi for attorney general.

‘Bondi is a proven leader and a dedicated public servant,’ the group’s statement said.

‘The Border Patrol Union fully supports and endorses [Pam Bondi],’ the group posted on X.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley tore into the Steele dossier and ‘weaponization’ of the Justice Department in an opening statement Wednesday, signaling Trump’s demands to clean house has a new ally in the upper chamber.

Grassley, delivering the first statement at AG nominee Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing, picked at some of the same grievances that animate Donald Trump, who continues to rage against ‘witch hunts’ against him.

‘The Justice Department is infected with political decision making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality – Crossfire Hurricane was a typical example of government weaponization,’ he said of the Russia probe that began during the 2016 election.

‘The FBI investigation was built on the fake Steele dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign who worked with foreign operatives. My investigative work exposed that the FBI actually knew the dossier was false information and was likely a part of a Russian disinformation campaign,’ he fumed while Bondi listened. He accused retired special Jack Smith of running a ‘lawfare operation.’

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill for DailyMail.com

During his opening remarks, the oldest congressman in America, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley, 91, demanded Pam Bondi reform Justice Department weaponization.

‘The Justice Department is infected with political decision making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality,’ Grassley said.

He noted incidents where the DOJ prosecuted protestors outside of abortion clinics, investigated Catholics as terrorist threats and noted how the FBI investigated parents who visited school board meetings.

‘Ms. Bondi, should you be confirmed, the actions you take to change the Department’s course must be for accountability, so that the conduct I just described never happens again,’ the 91-year-old said.

‘The only way to accomplish that is through transparency for Congress and the American People.’

Donald Trump‘s choice to lead the CIA will promise to shake out mediocrity and return the spy agency to ‘culture of toughness and resilience’ in his opening statement to senators on Wednesday morning.

John Ratcliffe will be responsible for foreign covert operations and collecting data on American adversaries if he makes it through the confirmation process.

In his first remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee he will lay out what he sees as the biggest threats to the nation as well as his plans to overhaul the CIA’s workforce, amid a string of claims that political bias has got in the way of the mission to track down enemies.

‘Above all will be a strict adherence to the CIA’s mission,’ he will say, according to remarks shared in advance with DailyMail.com.

‘We will collect intelligence – especially human intelligence – in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill for DailyMail.com

Pam Bondi arrived at her Senate confirmation hearing with a warm welcome from Florida senator Rick Scott.

Shortly after arriving, Bondi was greeted with an embrace and a kiss on the cheek from Scott.

Scott served as Florida’s governor when Bondi was the state’s attorney general.

She was the first woman AG in Florida history.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill for DailyMail.com

Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, Pam Bondi, is expected to open her confirmation hearing by talking about the equal application of justice.

‘America must have one tier of justice for all,’ she is expected to say according to portions of her opening remarks.

She is also expected to say that the ‘partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end.’

Bondi has been a Trump loyalist for years since serving as Florida’s attorney general before becoming a lobbyist.

The president-elect’s history of being the target of federal crimes is sure to come to a head during the hearing where senators will press Bondi on her relationship with Trump and whether she is willing to stand up to him if he should be wrong.

This week, he’s working to provide Donald Trump suggestions for a new government ‘business model’ to cut down on the staggering number of federal teleworkers.

Comer, who chairs the powerful House Oversight Committee, is holding a hearing Wednesday on federal teleworking practices that have persisted long after the COVID pandemic.

‘We know that more than half of the federal employees, and a vast majority of federal office workers, are either regularly teleworking or fully remote,’ Comer revealed to DailyMail.com exclusively.

With roughly 2.2 million civilian federal employees, the vast scope of how many of government’s workers are remote has been difficult to quantify, the Republican admitted.

Comer also shared that he spoke to Donald Trump about the scale of teleworking over the weekend when he was visiting the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago along with other lawmakers.

‘At the very least, President Trump expects the federal workforce to show up for work,’ the chairman said of their chat.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Sen. Marco Rubio appears to want the U.S. to take a more isolationist approach to global affairs, claiming that other countries have taken advantage of a ‘global order’ approach.

He will say in his open remarks at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that the U.S. has put other nations above ‘our core national interest.’

Rubio, who Trump nominated to be his Secretary of State, will face grilling from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In his prepared remarks, Rubio outlines:

While America far too often continued to prioritize the ‘global order’ above our core national interests, other nations continued to act the way countries always have and always will, in what they perceive to be in their best interest.

And instead of folding into the post-Cold War global order, they have manipulated it to serve their interest at the expense of ours.

GOP Sen. Joni Ernst says she’ll back Pete Hegseth for defense secretary.

The senator from Iowa, who was on the fence about Hegseth due to the sexual allegations made against him, made her decision after his hearing Tuesday:

Our next commander in chief selected Pete Hegseth to serve in this role, and after our conversations, hearing from Iowans, and doing my job as a United States Senator, I will support President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense.

As I serve on the Armed Services Committee, I will work with Pete to create the most lethal fighting force and hold him to his commitments of auditing the Pentagon, ensuring opportunity for women in combat while maintaining high standards, and selecting a senior official to address and prevent sexual assault in the ranks.

This week’s Senate confirmation hearings will put Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees in the hot seat as lawmakers grill them about their controversial histories and ties to the incoming president.

These hearings, which will determine whether the incoming president’s hand-picked top-level staff can lead his administration, kicked off on Tuesday with Pete Hegseth and will run all week.

Each of Trump’s picks will be effectively on trial before the senators in the committees overseeing the federal agencies.

A lecture by the highest ranking transgender officer in the armed forces; a celebration of Loving Day and sessions on ‘equity assurance training.’

A trove of flyers obtained by DailyMail.com from serving CIA officers lays bare the extent of the agency’s ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ work triggering fresh accusations that it is being distracted from its core job of protecting Americans from foreign threats.

But Trump transition insiders say those concerns will be tackled head on by John Ratcliffe, who is the president-elect’s pick to lead the agency, and who will be grilled by senators about his plans on Wednesday.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security is postponed.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was slated to have her confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

It was rescheduled for Friday, at the same time.

The switch-up in schedule, according to reports, is ‘due to a delay on the FBI background check for Governor Noem.’

Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of the Interior, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is also facing a two-day postponement for his hearing due to delayed paperwork.

9:30 AM: Trump Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi at the Senate Judiciary Committee

10:00 AM: Trump Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Trump CIA Director nominee John Ratcliffe at the Senate Intelligence Committee

Trump Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright at the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Trump Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy at the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee

1:00 PM: Trump White House Budget Director nominee Russell Vought at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee