Senate Republicans who block President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees face an increasing threat of primary challenges from MAGA-world operatives fighting for Mr. Trump’s anti-establishment picks.
Political groups aligned with Mr. Trump are eyeing Republican senators up for re-election in 2026 who have expressed reservations about Mr. Trump’s unconventional nominees or refused to quickly affirm their support.
Trump-world players are watching Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican and member of the Armed Services Committee who is among as many as a half-dozen senators wavering on the nomination of Pete Hegseth to serve as defense secretary.
Other potential GOP targets include Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Susan Collins of Maine.
All are up for re-election in 2026 and have withheld fully supporting some of the nominees that the GOP-led Senate will start voting on next month. Republicans will control 53 seats and can confirm Mr. Trump’s nominees with 51 votes. Four of them can sink a nominee.
“We are prepared, along with a whole army of others, to primary these senators. This is not an empty threat,” said Charlie Kirk, whose Turning Point USA and affiliated foundation helped elect Mr. Trump.
The president-elect’s staunchest allies believe the Senate GOP should essentially rubber stamp Mr. Trump’s picks and, with their 53-seat majority, easily confirm them early next year.
But Mr. Hegseth and a handful of other non-establishment picks have raised concerns among Republican senators. Some are questioning Mr. Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a skeptic of vaccines and fluoridated water, to run the Department of Health and Human Services. Other Republican senators are holding out on supporting Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence.
Like Mr. Hegseth, Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Kennedy were nominated by Mr. Trump to shake up the status quo, and MAGA supporters are thrilled with the picks. They say GOP senators should adhere to the will of the voters who gave Republicans a sweeping victory on Nov. 5 and approve Mr. Trump’s Cabinet choices.
If not, those GOP senators will face the wrath of Team Trump in 2026 with primary challenges.
MAGA allies are revving up their threats after Senate Republicans made quick work of forcing former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who quit Congress amid an ethics inquiry and misconduct claims, to drop his bid to become Mr. Trump’s attorney general.
Mr. Trump’s allies don’t want a repeat with Mr. Hegseth and others.
“Donors are already calling, ready to back this effort,” Mr. Kirk said.
Ms. Ernst, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, is among a handful of GOP senators who haven’t committed to backing Mr. Hegseth, a retired Army major and veterans advocate.
Mr. Hegseth is accused of a variety of misconduct allegations, including sexual assault, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement of a veterans advocacy organization he ran. He denies all accusations.
Ms. Ernst met with Mr. Hegseth for 45 minutes last week and said the two “had a very frank and productive discussion,” but she’s not ready to confirm him.
Mr. Graham called reports of Mr. Hegseth sexually assaulting an unnamed woman in a hotel room “very disturbing,” but he later said he would not base his decision about the nomination on anonymous sources. Mr. Hegseth was never charged with assault and denies the claim.
In a Senate hallway interview, Mr. Cornyn was noncommittal on Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, although he’s known the former Fox News personality for years.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since he was nominated but will let the process work itself out,” Mr. Cornyn said.
Mr. Rounds said he believes Mr. Hegseth can win the nomination, but “he’s got more work to do” in answering questions about the misconduct claims.
Ms. Collins, who beat back a formidable Democratic challenger in 2020, is thought to be the only GOP candidate who can hold onto a Senate seat in Maine. But her wavering support for Trump nominees is spurring primary talk when she’s up for reelection in 2026.
Ms. Collins wants to see an FBI background check into the allegations against Mr. Hegseth. She said she also has questions about Ms. Gabbard’s views on Russia, Iran and Syria.
Ms. Gabbard, a former House lawmaker and ex-Democrat, has opposed U.S. funding Ukraine’s effort to fend off Russia’s invasion and reportedly opposes U.S. sanctions against Russia and blames the U.S. and NATO for provoking the invasion. She’s deeply skeptical of the U.S. intelligence community, and some lawmakers fear she lacks the background and experience for the role.
“That’s a nominee that illustrates the importance of a full background check, a public hearing and the constitutional role of the Senate on advice and consent,” Ms. Collins said. She narrowly won re-election in 2020, and Republicans fear that knocking her out in a primary would pave the way for Democrats to flip the seat in 2026.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the head of the Senate GOP campaign arm, did not respond to a request for a comment on the primary threat Ms. Collins and other 2026 GOP Senate incumbents could face.
He told Fox News in November he plans “a family conversation next year about what we’re looking at — how we’re going to defend that map and then make the best decisions we can as it relates to making sure that we end up with more seats than we currently have.”
On Friday, Republicans announced the Senate would remain in session for all but three weeks for the first half of 2025 to consider and vote on Mr. Trump’s nominees and begin work on other key legislation.
“Get ready to work,” incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, posted on X.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.