Republican senators are warning that two of President Trump’s nominees for national security positions who have championed radical views will face tough scrutiny.
Elbridge Colby, Trump’s pick to serve as Defense undersecretary for policy, and Darren Beattie, his choice to serve as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy, in particular have raised eyebrows for statements or policy views at odds with those of many GOP senators.
Even though other controversial nominees, most recently Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, have won confirmation with near GOP unity, Republicans say Colby and Beattie could face some challenges.
And they say the fact that Colby and Beattie are lesser-known names who would be placed in under-the-Cabinet roles means they could come under more, not less scrutiny.
“I think Tulsi Gabbard is flawed but [is] she going to be harmful? No, because I think that there are going to [be] enough strong intelligence people around her. I feel the same way about RFK Jr.,” said a Republican senator, referring to Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“When it comes to those nominees below the Cabinet who may be less on people’s radar, who will be able to facilitate things, that’s where I think it can be dangerous. I’m going to be looking at them more critically,” said the senator, who requested anonymity to discuss the skepticism facing Trump’s next batch of nominees.
Colby is coming under criticism for advocating that the United States cut back its military posture in Europe and the Middle East to focus on the growing threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told Congressional Quarterly that some of Colby’s views are “a concern to a number of senators.”
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations wrote a letter to Wicker and Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the top Democrat on the Armed Services panel, voicing the concerns of their member organizations about Colby’s view of the role of the American military in the Middle East and U.S. policy toward Iran.
The group urged senators to press Colby about his views on a range of topics, including his previous support for drawing down U.S. military forces in the Middle East.
Reed told The Hill that several of his Republican colleagues have “serious questions” about Colby.
“I had a chance to speak with him, and he has made it very clear in the last few years in writing that he feels there should be a dramatic shift to Asia and minimal involvement elsewhere, and that raises a lot of strategic questions,” he said. “I heard there are colleagues on the other side that have serious questions.”
Several Republicans on the Armed Services Committee have already met with Colby, including Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), but are withholding judgment until his confirmation hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
“I have sat down with him. We had a really great discussion. I’ve worked with him on projects in the past. I hope he does well before our committee,” Ernst told The Hill.
Rounds said he, too, “had a very good discussion” with Colby but said he would “wait and see” on how to vote on his nomination.
A key figure in the debate over Colby and other sub-Cabinet level nominees will be Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the chair of the powerful Appropriations subcommittee for Defense.
McConnell has kept his cards close to the vest but opposed both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gabbard on their final confirmation votes.
He asserted that Hegseth “failed” to show he could manage 3 million military and civilian personnel and an annual Defense budget of nearly $1 trillion.
And he voted against Gabbard on Wednesday, citing her refusal to call former government contractor Edward Snowden a traitor despite his theft of 1.5 million classified records, which McConnell said “endangered sources, methods and lives.”
McConnell has repeatedly argued that the United States should build up its defense capability to deter threats posed by Russia, Iran and China simultaneously, and he would oppose cutting back the U.S. military posture in Europe and the Middle East.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), another member of the Armed Services Committee, said he knows Colby “pretty well” and plans to meet with him soon.
Sullivan has already raised concerns over some Pentagon moves, specifically those by deputy assistant secretaries (DAS).
“You had a DAS — maybe they don’t have these views now — but a DAS who had a plan a couple years ago to cut 12 brigade combat teams from the Army,” he told The Hill. “That’s like [former President] Obama.”
“There’s concern about who’s in the policy shop there. There are some concerns, not just me,” he added.
Sullivan said he also had questions about Michael DiMino, Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of Defense for the Middle East, who was sworn into the administration last month.
DiMino said in a webinar a year ago that the Middle East does “not really” matter to U.S. national security interests and that the existential threats in the Middle East are “best characterized as minimal to nonexistent.”
“I’ve seen statements by him that are total, unequivocal head-scratchers,” Sullivan said of DiMino.
Beattie, who serves as the State Department’s acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, is starting to come under criticism for past controversial statements and social media posts attacking Republican senators.
The former Trump speechwriter has voiced support for sterilization and suggested paying smart people to have more kids, according to NOTUS.
Beattie’s social media posts have been criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group dedicated to fighting antisemitism, which said he “has no place in a role representing American values abroad.”
The ADL said that Beattie throughout the years “has participated in several conversations and events organized by notorious racists, antisemites and white supremacists and has continuously promoted an array of conspiracy theories.”
Beattie has also taken shots at Graham and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on social media.
“Where do they get some of these guys?” asked one Republican senator, who requested anonymity to voice frustration with some of Trump’s personnel choices. “If you really want to do something publicly, put your phone down.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was not familiar with Beattie.
