Sen. Smith: Trump cabinet picks are concerning, but I will give each a fair hearing

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: Our top story this afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump is quickly building his cabinet with a flurry of nominations for top positions. Among them is Minnesotan Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator who Trump nominated to be secretary of defense.

Under the typical process of checks and balances, Hegseth and other nominees would need to be confirmed by the Senate, which Republicans will control next year. But Trump has suggested he'd like to sidestep that process. Joining me now to talk about all of this is Democratic Senator Tina Smith. Thank you for being here, Senator.

TINA SMITH: Well, thank you, Nina. I'm so glad to be with you.

NINA MOINI: I'm curious, what was your reaction to this early slew of nominations?

TINA SMITH: Well, I am concerned about these nominations. I believe that my job in the Senate is to evaluate each one of these and to assess whether I believe that these folks are fully capable of doing these really important jobs in the federal government. The Department of Defense is a massive agency that is responsible for keeping Americans safe. And who leads that department needs to be up to the job.

And during the campaign, President-elect Trump was quite clear that he intended to put a loyalist into these roles. And I have to say, that as I look at some of these early announcements, it looks like that's exactly what he's doing. So Pete Hegseth has served in the military. He is a TV commentator.

And I'm deeply concerned about even though he served in the military, I think he is not-- there's no evidence that he is up to the challenge of leading this extremely important agency.

NINA MOINI: You mentioned loyalists to President-elect Trump. Some of the names that he's put out there so far-- Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, who we talked about-- with different backgrounds, all of them. Are you concerned that these picks will go along whatever President Trump says, or that they're not qualified necessarily, or both?

TINA SMITH: Well, I think we have to look at both of those things. So certainly the president should be able to put into these jobs individuals who he believes are going to help him to advance his agenda and his priorities. That's the way our system is supposed to work.

And it's our job in the Senate to make sure that those individuals we believe are fully capable and up to the job. And that's why I think it's important that each one of these folks be evaluated individually and on their merits. I will not be making a blanket statement of supporting all of them or not supporting all of them. By any means, you've got to look at each person individually.

So you look at, for example, what the President-elect did yesterday to put Congressman Matt Gaetz in, attempt to put Congressman Matt Gaetz in as head of the Department of Justice, arguably one of the most important jobs there is in the federal government.

The attorney general is our nation's top law enforcement officer. He or she is the person who's responsible to making sure that our nation's laws are enforced. And even Republicans, many Republicans already, are looking askance at this nomination and just really questioning why President-elect Trump would be making this decision.

NINA MOINI: I want to give our listeners a little bit of background about Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. Gaetz was under investigation by a House Ethics Committee on allegations that he was part of a sex trafficking scheme. He denies those allegations. And he has said in the past the Justice Department investigation into the matter ended with no federal charges against him. Are you hearing enough dissent from both parties to potentially block this nomination or the others?

TINA SMITH: Well, I think it is going to be up to my Republican colleagues in the Senate, how they decide to respond to this. Are they going to use the powers of the Senate to determine whether this individual is capable of being the attorney general? And I think the answer to that is-- I mean, I don't think that he is. Or are they going to fall in line with President-elect Trump? It's really going to be up to them to decide what to do with this Gaetz nomination.

And remember that, again, during the campaign, Donald Trump told us what he intended to do. He said he intended to go after his political enemies and use the full powers of the presidency to punish them. And certainly, an appointment like Matt Gaetz to the Department of Justice would suggest that that's the path he's for sure is on.

NINA MOINI: Of the nominees announced so far-- and they're coming up pretty fast-- but of the ones we know up so far, are there any that you would vote to confirm or consider at this point?

TINA SMITH: Well, yeah, it's too early to be able to say, make any commitments about who I might vote for or not. But I think that I would point, for example, to Marco Rubio, who has been nominated to be secretary of state. I will certainly look carefully at his qualifications and how he responds as he goes through the Senate process and give him a fair hearing before I decide whether or not I think he's capable of doing this job.

NINA MOINI: And Senator Rubio of Florida is among Republicans, who it seems like his positions have changed over the years, maybe since 2016 when he was wanting to run for president as well, to come more in line with what Donald Trump's positions are. When you see that among members of Congress, more broadly, what are your thoughts about the future and the future of the Republican Party?

TINA SMITH: Well, this is Donald Trump's Republican Party. There seems to be no doubt about that. And yet, I know, in the Senate, amongst my colleagues, there are certainly members of the Senate Republican caucus that have deep concerns about Trump and his approach.

And even yesterday, we had Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska express concerns and, for example, call the Matt Gaetz appointment not serious. Susan Collins from Maine said that she was shocked by the appointment. Even Chuck Grassley, our neighbor to the south, seemed sort of stunned by this nomination.

So, yes, I think in many ways, this is Donald Trump's Republican Party. But yet I also know that I have colleagues in the Senate that are independent-minded and are going to be exercising their best judgment. And I hope so.

That's what we need because it would be disastrous if you had completely unprepared and incapable people in these roles that really have a direct impact on whether Minnesotans and Americans are safe and secure and can make sure that the laws of our country are being fairly enforced.

NINA MOINI: Building off of what you're talking about, Republican senators yesterday chose Senator John Thune of South Dakota to be majority leader in the next Congress. He's been described as more of a traditional Republican. Do you think that will give the Senate more independence from the Trump administration?

TINA SMITH: Well, I hope that Senator Thune, in the role of majority leader, will be upholding the responsibilities and the authorities of the legislative branch and the Senate. I know John pretty well. He and I frequently are riding the same airplane back to the upper Midwest on Thursday afternoons--

NINA MOINI: Mm-hmm, sure.

TINA SMITH: --and sort of like our school bus for the senators that live in Minnesota and North Dakota and South Dakota and Montana. And I think that Senator Thune is respected in the Senate on both sides of the aisle. And so we're hopeful that he will be a fair leader.

And I also note that the President-elect Trump, several days ago, said that he intended to try to do this process called recess appointments to circumvent the authority of the Senate to advise on nominations. And Senator Thune seemed open-minded to that, which is, of course, a source of real concern to me and others, because we need to make sure that we uphold our job in the United States Senate. And I hope that John Thune will do that.

NINA MOINI: What are your priorities in the next month and a half of Democratic control? It's looking like Republicans may have won control of the Senate and House.

TINA SMITH: Yes, yes. Well, so my priorities over the next month and a half, I guess it is, is, first of all, I want to make sure that we finish our work of confirming the federal judges that President Biden has nominated. And that's an extremely important job. These federal judges hold lifetime appointments. And it's very important that we fill those.

Second of all, it's very important that we make sure that the federal budget doesn't lapse and that we don't have any sort of a crisis with federal funding. And so that is on my mind.

Representing Minnesota, which is a very important agriculture state, I would love very much if we could finish the big farm bill, which is the law which authorizes so much federal work in rural development and broadband and farm programs and conservation. I'm much less optimistic that we'll be able to get that done, given the way that Republicans, I think, want to wait until 2025. But I'll keep seeing if there's a path forward on that as well.

NINA MOINI: And just lastly, Senator, you started your first term as a senator as Republicans then had a trifecta in the federal government. As you reflect back on that time and now you look ahead, what do you expect to be different this time?

TINA SMITH: Well, one of the deep concerns I have is that Donald Trump learned from his first term. And in his second term, he will be basically-- I mean, he'll be better at accomplishing his goals.

And I think that so many of the goals that he has laid out in terms of weaponizing the Justice Department, in terms of overturning the authority of Congress, the way that he's talking about using the executive authority to gut the federal agencies and take away civil service protections, I mean, I'm worried that he's going to go after that in ways that he wasn't able to do in 2018, when I first came to the Senate.

And so my job is to do everything I can to make sure that I'm looking out for Minnesota's best interests. And as I've always said, I'm willing to work with anyone who wants to work with me to solve problems for Minnesotans and for the country, regardless of what party they're in. So I'm going to bring that value to this work, understanding that I think it's going to be a very challenging couple of years.

NINA MOINI: Senator Smith, thank you for being with us.

TINA SMITH: Thank you so much.

NINA MOINI: That was US senator for Minnesota, Tina Smith.