Trump Nominees Defend Views: Key Takeaways From Senate Hearings

Donald Trump’s choice to head the CIA called for the agency to heighten its focus on threats from China, and his nominee for attorney general stood by a call to investigate “bad” prosecutors as the Senate picked up the pace of cabinet confirmation hearings.

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Bloomberg News

Iain Marlow, Chris Strohm and Natalia Drozdiak

Published Jan 15, 2025  •  4 minute read

Marco Rubio Photo by Kent Nishimura /Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Blo

(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump’s choice to head the CIA called for the agency to heighten its focus on threats from China, and his nominee for attorney general stood by a call to investigate “bad” prosecutors as the Senate picked up the pace of cabinet confirmation hearings.

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Trump nominees Marco Rubio for secretary of State, John Ratcliffe for Central Intelligence Agency director and Pam Bondi for attorney general were among appointees who testified at hearings on Wednesday, bolstered by a wall of Republican support.

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The sessions were less contentious than the confrontations over allegations of sexual assault, drunkenness and financial mismanagement that animated Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s hearing a day earlier. But Democrats still used the televised performances to highlight criticism of the appointees and Trump policies.

Here are some key takeaways:

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

Rubio, a longtime senator, was in the middle of his confirmation hearing when negotiators reached a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. The Florida Republican was quick to praise Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, for his role in the talks. 

“All involved deserve credit for the ceasefire that the chairman’s just announced, but Steve Witkoff’s been a critical component of it,” Rubio said.

Unlike some of Trump’s more controversial cabinet picks, Rubio has bipartisan support, which allowed the hearing to quickly delve into foreign policy minutiae.

A longtime China hawk, Rubio said Beijing “has repressed and lied and cheated and hacked and stolen their way to global superpower status” at the expense of the US. He said he would revisit some Biden administration policies, including the current president’s decision to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

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He also said he would seek new ways to apply pressure to adversaries, including reexamining US oil company licenses to operate in Venezuela and using US liquefied natural gas exports to China as “leverage” in talks with Beijing.

Pam Bondi, Attorney General

Bondi told senators the Justice Department won’t have “an enemies list” if she’s confirmed but wouldn’t rule out investigating prosecutors who carried out criminal probes into Trump’s conduct. She told Fox News in August 2023 that “bad” prosecutors who investigated Trump would face investigations if he were elected.

Bondi’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday was largely dominated by questions about how independent she will be from Trump and White House pressure and how she would handle politically explosive matters like calls by conservatives to prosecute those they believe are political enemies.

Bondi often didn’t provide direct answers, for example declining to say whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election or whether she would advise Trump against pardoning individuals who assaulted cops during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

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Instead, Bondi said she would make decisions on a case-by-case basis and “never play politics.”

John Ratcliffe, CIA Director

Ratcliffe stressed in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee the need to collect more information from human sources abroad to prevent what some senators called a string of intelligence failures, pointing to incidents like the spy agency’s failure to anticipate the recent collapse of Syria’s Assad regime.

Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee’s vice chairman, pressed Ratcliffe for his public assurance that he would provide the president and lawmakers with unbiased intelligence assessments, “even when it might be inconvenient or uncomfortable.”

Ratcliffe had been a relatively unknown third-term congressman until his aggressive questioning of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in July 2019 caught Trump’s eye and helped propel him to appointment as Trump’s national intelligence director.

Ratcliffe told Warner it’s “absolutely essential” the CIA chief be apolitical and pledged he “would never” take reprisals against staff for their views.

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Chris Wright, Energy Secretary

Chris Wright told senators his first priority would be to “unleash American energy” by expanding production of fossil fuels along with nuclear power, geothermal and other technologies.

Wright, the founder of a Colorado-based oil and natural gas fracking services company, praised the work of US national laboratories. He also voiced support for solar energy, carbon capture systems and efforts to build more transmission lines to make the US power grid more stable.

Wright, who has called the threat posed by global warming exaggerated, did face angry questioning from California Senator Alex Padilla, who said the devastating wildfires burning in Los Angeles are linked to climate change. The Democrat asked Wright about his previous social media posts and comments dismissing the link between climate change and wildfires as “hype.”

Wright responded that it is “with great sorrow and fear that I watch what is happening in your city.” Nonetheless, Wright said he stands by his past comments.

Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary

Sean Duffy pledged to prioritize safety and said one of his main goals would be restoring confidence in Boeing Co., which plunged into crisis last year after a door-sized panel blew off a 737 Max midair. Since then, US regulators have ramped up oversight of the planemaker and placed a temporary cap on production of the Max, which is crucial for the company’s profits. Duffy said Boeing needs “tough love.” 

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As Transportation secretary, Duffy would directly oversee many interests of Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest advisers. Duffy told senators he would review penalties US aviation regulators have proposed against Musk’s SpaceX. But he said he wouldn’t interfere with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s ongoing probe into Musk’s Tesla.

Duffy also said he backs developing a federal framework for self-driving cars — something Musk supports. Without one, “I think we put ourselves behind those countries that allow for innovators to expand and grow,” he said, adding that it’s imperative from a national security standpoint that the US doesn’t fall behind China.

—With assistance from Courtney McBride, Ari Natter and Allyson Versprille.

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