How Republican skeptics in the Senate got to ‘yes’ on RFK Jr. and Gabbard

WASHINGTON — Republican skepticism in the Senate of President Donald Trump’sCabinet nominees has been worn down, putting his unconventional choices for some of the most powerful positions in the federal government on the verge of confirmation. “You can’t think of this just as a normal president coming into office for the first time,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who was involved in the effort to get Trump’s nominees across the finish line. Young said Vance approached him with a “respectful” tone and “listened a lot more than he talked.” It’s a change from Vance’s Senate tenure, when he often defied the GOP leadership under Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell. The senator thanked Vance for his “honest counsel.” Cassidy and Young insisted that the political fallout from blocking Trump’s Cabinet picks did not factor into their negotiations, but the stakes were clear. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he hoped the tactic would call attention to Trump’s expansion of presidential power and help “persuade the American people to express outrage to their members of Congress, particularly from the red states, where so far their senators have been unwilling or unable to listen.”