Blizzard of confirmation hearings to provide an early Trump test for senate Republicans: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, senior national political reporter sahil Kapur explains how the confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, which get underway tomorrow, will serve as an early loyalty test for senate Republicans. Plus, senior national politics reporter Matt Dixon dives into how Ron Desantis is preparing Florida for Trump’s looming immigration crackdown.

— Deputy politics editor Adam Wollner

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Blizzard of confirmation hearings to provide an early Trump test for senate Republicans

By sahil Kapur

During the kickoff of a bonanza of confirmation hearings Tuesday to fill President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet, the focus will largely be on a select group of nominees who face choppy waters.

But the new Republican-led senate will also be in the spotlight for an early glimpse at how they will handle Trump’s wishes in his second term.  

With each nominee requiring 50 votes for confirmation, they will only have a three-vote margin for GOP defections before requiring Democratic votes. 

The hearings will test whether the scuttling of Matt Gaetz’s short-lived bid to be attorney general was a one-off rejection or a signal that senate Republicans will flex their advice-and-consent muscle. Trump and his allies have since piled pressure onto senators to back his remaining picks. Will they come into the hearings asking tough questions and be open to voting no if they’re unsatisfied? Or will they come in with the intention of getting to yes, even if it means steering clear of the tough questions and setting aside their concerns?

some have made clear that they will defer to Trump on his selections. senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said sunday on CBs’ “Face the Nation” that he will “support every one of these nominees.”

Then there are those like sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who has well-documented skepticism toward Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embattled pick to lead the Defense Department. she isn’t alone, but Ernst faces re-election in 2026 and risks a primary challenger if she stands in Trump’s way.

With Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump chose to be director of national intelligence, concerns persist on both sides of the aisle due to her past dealings with former syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. There’s little indication that she has assuaged them. As part of her damage control, Gabbard recently reversed her position on section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence surveillance Act, endorsing the controversial spying power.

And the long history of vaccine skepticism and support for abortion rights has created issues in both parties for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he seeks to become health and human services secretary. 

With roughly a dozen hearings scheduled this week ahead of Trump’s inauguration next Monday, the senate is bracing for “a little bit of a train wreck” in the coming days, sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said.

some of Trump’s choices, most notably secretary of state pick Marco Rubio, currently a senator from Florida, will likely sail through with plenty of Democratic votes.

But for the more controversial selections, Republican senators will need to decide how much they want to risk rocking the boat with Trump as he looks to get his new administration up and running. 

Read more on the start of the confirmation hearings →

Trump’s backyard begins prep for his immigration crackdown

President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t yet outlined all the specifics of how his day-one executive orders will clear the way for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants that was a core part of his campaign. 

But Florida Gov. Ron Desantis says he got a briefing — and he’s mobilizing his state to get in line with the incoming administration’s goals.

On Monday, Desantis called his state Legislature into a special session starting Jan. 27 to, in part, pass a sweeping immigration bill that will aim to align with executive orders Trump is expected to sign shortly after he takes office Jan. 20, Matt Dixon reports from Tallahassee. Desantis said he has personally spoken to the president-elect about the policy ideas.

“We will tailor what we are doing to mirror what their policies are going to be,” Desantis told reporters. While he didn’t delve into too many specifics on what he’s heard from the incoming administration, the Florida governor did say that he anticipates that Trump is likely to expand the so-called 287(g) program. 

That’s the program that allows U.s. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to delegate to local officials the authority to perform some functions generally reserved for federal immigration officials. 

Under the current program, state and local governments can “opt in” to the program, but Desantis hopes that Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature will use his special session to make the program mandatory. Any final decision on language would come after Trump issues his executive orders. 

“We are going to say sheriffs and municipalities are going to be part of 287(g),” he said.

While some of Trump’s big policy goals will require new legislation and that process is expected to take some time, there’s a lot of room for his new administration to take unilateral action on immigration. This is part of the first wave of immigration actions it is planning, which could include high-profile workplace raids, according to NBC News reporting.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner, scott Bland and Bridget Bowman.

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