Andy Kim says Senate needs to fully vet Trump’s Cabinet picks

“This will be my first time around having a chance to be able to vote on these appointments. So, you know, I’m going to take that seriously, do my due diligence,” Kim told the Washington Examiner at the Capitol.

“They also need to make sure that they run the process and don’t just try to jam things through in a recess appointment,” he explained.

Kim will be replacing ex-Sen. Bob Menendez in the upper chamber following his felony conviction in a corruption case. The New Jersey Democrat, who previously served in the House for three terms, has already had a prominent foreign policy career. He served as the National Security Council’s director for Iraq during President Barack Obama’s administration. In Afghanistan, Kim worked as a strategic adviser to Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. John Allen. 

The 42-year-old incoming senator said he was “alarmed” by the announcement of Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as his secretary of defense, noting Hegseth’s appearance last week on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast in which he said that female soldiers should not be allowed to fight on the front lines. 

“I have to say I’m alarmed by the idea that a Secretary of Defense nominee would say things like, women shouldn’t be in combat,” Kim said. “As someone who’s worked at the Pentagon, that’s not something I would ever imagine hearing a Secretary of Defense say.”

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At the time of the conversation on Wednesday, Kim said he had not seen the news that former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard had been nominated to serve as the director of national intelligence. It was also ahead of Trump’s decision to tap former Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Since then, reports surfaced that Hegseth was investigated but not charged in a sexual assault case less than a decade ago, raising questions about the Trump transition team’s vetting process. Trump’s transition team has chosen to bypass the usual process of using the FBI to conduct background checks on at least some of his Cabinet picks, instead opting to use private companies, according to CNN.

“I’m still trying to get my head around all of this,” Kim said. “I’m going to have to hear more about these roles and these positions.”

Kim’s victory was a bright spot for Democrats, making him the Senate’s first Korean American and the chamber’s fourth youngest member. However, the incoming senator acknowledged a shift in a right-ward state where Democrats control every branch of government and outnumber Republicans by 900,000 voters. Four years ago, New Jersey voters rejected Trump’s reelection bid by a 16-point margin. This time around, Vice President Kamala Harris’s margin of victory narrowed to only about five points.

“I think that there’s going to be a lot of questions about what comes next, and I have to say, at least, you know, our cohort of six of us that won, you know, a lot of us have consistently outperformed the top of the ticket in multiple races,” Kim said of fellow incoming Democratic senators. “A lot of the people here wouldn’t be here if they didn’t outperform.”

Kim said there are listening sessions underway to reflect on last week’s bruising electoral defeats in which Republicans flipped four seats giving them a 53-seat majority in the Senate. 

“We’re having conversations amongst ourselves, and we want to sit down at some point and really try to dive into detail of what we think needs to happen next,” he said. “None of us have all the answers, but we certainly have some ideas.”

The Democrat said he is hopeful that lawmakers will be able to work across the aisle and get work accomplished despite being in the minority.

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“I’ve had a conversation with Republican Sen. Katie Britt, with both of us young parents worried about mental health challenges that young people are facing right now,” he said. “I think just in general, a lot of understanding about what comes next on foreign policy and other issues.

“As someone who has been a career diplomat and worked in national security, I hope that people can recognize that there are things we do need to get done. We can’t just continue this kind of nonstop election season type of mentality.”