Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) suggested on Sunday that he is open to confirming controversial Trump cabinet nominees Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel for secretary of defense and FBI director, respectively.
Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, mismanaging two veterans organizations, abusing alcohol, infidelity and called a serial “abuser of women” by his own mother.
Asked by ABC News‘ Jonathan Karl on Sunday if Hegseth is qualified to be defense secretary, Fetterman responded, “I think we’re going to learn more.”
“My commitment, and I think I’m doing the job, is I’m going to sit down and have a conversation,” he continued. “To me, it would be distressing if he is confirmed, if the Democrats are going to turn our back collectively to the leader of the defense. I mean, that’s astonishing and that’s dangerous.”
In addition to Hegseth, Fetterman has also met with Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence and Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director.
Patel has called for stripping the FBI of its intelligence-gathering role, purging its ranks of any employee who refuses to support Trump’s agenda, railed against the so-called ‘deep state’ and vowed to punish Trump enemies including journalists.
Fetterman dismissed Patel’s threat of using the FBI to target Trump’s enemies, telling Karl “that’s never going to happen.”
“So you see yourself inclined to be open to supporting these controversial nominees?” the anchor asked.
“Potentially,” Fetterman responded. “But nobody can accuse me of just saying I had a closed mind, or I just said no because Trump picked this person, or whatever.”
Fetterman has already said he will vote to confirm Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state.
