U.S. Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi clashed with a senior Democratic senator during her confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday.
Bondi was forced to defend President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, when Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed her on his past comments.
He referenced Patel’s suggestion of closing down FBI headquarters and threatening an "enemies list," among other remarks.
"Is that a person who, appropriately, should be the FBI director? Aren't those comments inappropriate? Shouldn't you disavow them and and ask him to recant them?" Blumenthal hammered.
Bondi replied, "Senator, I am not familiar with all those comments. I have not discussed those comments with Mr. Patel."
"What I do know, is Mr. Patel …" she began before Blumenthal attempted to cut her off.
Bondi pressed forward, "Excuse me. What I do know is Mr. Patel was a career prosecutor. He was a career public defender, defending people. And he also has great experience within the intelligence community."
"What I can sit here and tell you is, Mr. Patel, if he works with running the FBI, if he is confirmed, and if I am confirmed, he will follow the law. If I am the attorney general of the United States of America, and I don't believe he would do anything otherwise," Bondi said.
Blumenthal replied, "Well, let me just submit that the response that I would have hoped to hear from you is that those comments are inappropriate, and that you will ask him to disavow or recant them when he comes before this committee, because they are indeed chilling to fair enforcement and the rule of law."
It comes after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., similarly pressed Bondi on what Democrats have called Patel’s "enemies list."
They are referring to a list of 60 people in Patel’s book "Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy," who he branded as part of the "deep state."
Bondi defended Patel during Whitehouse’s questioning as well, while vowing there would never be an "enemies list" at the DOJ.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who was tapped to lead the Department of State under the second Trump administration, was repeatedly interrupted by protesters during his Senate hearing on Wednesday.
One female protester was heard shouting at Rubio in Spanish, while at least two men, including one wearing pink, were seen being pulled out of the hearing by Capitol Police after shouting.
"I get bilingual protesters," Rubio quipped after a protester yelled at him in Spanish, earning laughter from the crowd.
Ahead of the hearing kicking off on Wednesday morning, Fox News Digital spotted Code Pink protesters wearing bright pink with shirts reading, "hands of Iran," and "stop killing the children of Gaza." They also sported anti-Rubio stickers on their headbands and hats.
Protesters were warned by the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ahead of the hearing kicking off to not disrupt proceedings, saying they will be removed from the hearing and won't be permitted back to a public hearing for at least a year.
"Distractions will include not only noise, not only standing up, not only holding up painted hands, painted signs. None of that will be allowed. If you do that, I'm going to pause the committee. I'm going to ask our friends, first of all, my, my faithful, Sergeant at Arms here -- who's, perhaps, tougher than the Capitol Police. But also the Capitol Police to assist. And, we will pause briefly … If you are removed, you'll not be permitted back into one of these public hearings for at least 12 months. And, that's the purpose of this is, as I've stated, and it's important work," Republican Idaho Sen. James Risch, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in opening remarks.
A handful of President-elect Donald Trump's picks for his cabinet are facing Senate hearings this week ahead of his inauguration on Monday.
Department of Energy nominee Chris Wright's confirmation hearing was also interrupted by protesters on Wednesday, who shouted if his policies will "put out the fires in LA."
Protesters also interrupted Pete Hegseth's senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, when he joined the Senate Armed Services Committee, when he was grilled by lawmakers ahead of a committee vote and final confirmation vote on his nomination as secretary of Defense.
"Veterans are committing suicide and are homeless, but we send money to bomb children in Gaza," one female protester wearing fatigues shouted as she was escorted from the hearing, Fox News Digital video shows.
An elderly man who was handcuffed with zipties was also seen being escorted out of the hearing. Another man, also appearing to wear fatigues, was seen being carried out by Capitol Police.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked Hegseth about the protesters during his hearing, including regarding the war in Israel that has been ongoing since 2023.
"Another protester, and I think this one was a member of Code Pink, which, by the way, is a Chinese communist front group these days, said that you support Israel's war in Gaza. I support Israel's existential war in Gaza. I assume, like me and President Trump, you support that war as well," Cotton said.
"I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas," Hegseth responded.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is calling a special legislative session to address his school choice bill, as well as other prioritizes of President-elect Trump's incoming administration, such as immigration law and disaster relief in the Volunteer State.
Lee announced that he would call for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special session on Monday, Jan. 27, to pass the Education Freedom Act. The governor said he will introduce a disaster relief legislative package addressing recovery needs for Hurricane Helene, as well as future natural disasters, and that the session will also tackle public safety measures regarding immigration, "as the incoming Trump Administration has called on states to prepare for policy implementation."
The announcement from Tennessee came after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday that he was calling a special session of his own to help coordinate Trump's planned illegal immigration crackdown in the Sunshine State.
Lee issued a joint statement with Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, state House Speaker Cameron Sexton, state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, and state House Majority Leader William Lamberth.
"We believe the state has a responsibility to act quickly on issues that matter most to Tennesseans, and there is widespread support in the General Assembly and across Tennessee for a special session on the most pressing legislative priorities: the unified Education Freedom Act and a comprehensive relief package for Hurricane Helene and other disaster recovery efforts," they said. "The majority of Tennesseans, regardless of political affiliation, have made it clear that they support empowering parents with school choice, and the best thing we can do for Tennessee students is deliver choices and public school resources without delay."
The statement added: "Hurricane Helene was an unprecedented disaster across rural, at-risk, and distressed communities that cannot shoulder the local cost share of federal relief funds on their own. The state has an opportunity and obligation to partner with these impacted counties and develop innovative solutions for natural disasters going forward."
"Finally, the American people elected President Trump with a mandate to enforce immigration laws and protect our communities, and Tennessee must have the resources ready to support the Administration on Day One," they said.
"Last year, Gov. Lee directed key state agencies to begin preparing for federal immigration policy implementation," Lee's press secretary, Elizabeth Lane Johnson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "In this special session, we will ensure the state is best positioned to coordinate with federal, state, and local law enforcement to implement the Trump Administration's plan to enforce the federal immigration laws on the books."
"President Trump has made it clear that states will play a major role in partnering with his Administration to make our communities safer. Tennessee is heeding the call," she added.
Lee, whose initial school choice proposal failed in the state legislature earlier last year, spoke to Fox News Digital in November upon introducing a second package aimed at increasing parental rights.
After Trump's decisive election win, the governor argued that the political environment on the ground in Tennessee is not what it was months before when the first school choice proposal failed.
The election saw a wave of pro-school choice candidates win at the state level, and Trump succeeded in his bid for the White House. Lee told Fox News Digital that he agreed with Trump's promise to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, echoing the president-elect's concern over the federal bureaucracy becoming entrenched with gender and race ideology rather than learning.
"In this case, states certainly know best. We know best in Tennessee what our children need and how best to educate our kids. The parents of this state should be given a greater influence on how their kids are educated, and that will happen if the federal Department of Education is dismantled and those funds are delivered to states to be used in a more efficient and more effective way," Lee said at the time. "President Trump has long believed that school choice is important for the people of this country and that education freedom is something that all Americans could have. He's talked about it. He campaigned on it."
Lee's new school choice bill, titled the Education Freedom Act of 2025, would draw from funding already approved by the state legislature to allow the state Department of Education to award up to 20,000 scholarships – valued at about $7,000 each – for the next school year to be spent on tuition, tutoring, technology and examination expenses. The first 10,000 scholarships would be set aside for low-income students whose parents might not otherwise afford to send their children to institutions other than the public schools in their districts.
In addition to establishing Education Freedom Scholarships, Lee's office said the bill "further invests in public schools and teachers by delivering teacher bonuses to recognize their unwavering commitment to student success, increasing K-12 facilities funding, and ensuring state funding to school districts will never decrease due to disenrollment." The governor and the General Assembly "will maintain their commitment to public schools by further investing hundreds of millions of state dollars in the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) formula, and raising starting teacher pay," Lee's office said.
The governor is also planning to invest more than $450 million in direct disaster relief.
Hurricane Helene "was an unprecedented disaster that primarily impacted at-risk and distressed counties, with eligible damage-related costs estimated at $1.2 billion," Lee's office said.
The Disaster Relief Grants (DRG) Fund allocates $240 million "to bolster Tennessee’s existing disaster relief fund, as well as reduce the local cost-share burden from 12.5% to 5% and fund the state match requirement in order to access federal funds and cover administrative costs." Lee's package also establishes the Hurricane Helene Interest Payment Fund, which allocates $110 million to "help local governments manage loan interest for recovery costs by covering interest costs at 5% per year for three years on loans for recovery expenses."
Finally, the Governor’s Response and Recovery Fund allocates $100 million "to create a new program inspired by the HEAL Program that will provide flexible financial resources for future emergencies, including agricultural recovery, unemployment assistance, and business recovery efforts." The package also sets aside $20 million for the rebuilding of Hampton High School in Carter County, which was destroyed in Hurricane Helene.
Conservatives erupted on social media Tuesday following an exchange between Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth and freshman Sen. Tim Sheehy regarding gender identity.
"How many genders are there?" the Montana senator asked Hegseth on Tuesday. "Tough one."
Hegseth responded, "Senator, there are two genders."
"I know that well, I’m a Sheehy, so I’m on board," Sheehy responded, referencing the "she" and "he" that make up his last name.
After Hegseth laughed at the freshman senator's joke, Sheehy then went on to ask Hegseth, a fellow combat veteran, the diameter of a round fired out of a M4A1 rifle and how many pushups he could do.
The line of questioning, particularly the exchange on gender which Sheehy previously joked about on the campaign trail, immediately drew a response from conservatives.
"Right on," GOP Congressman Darrell Issa posted on X.
"Well, it looks like the new senator from Montana is a huge upgrade," RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway posted on X in reference to former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who Sheehy defeated in November.
"Montana knew what they were doing when they put @TimSheehyMT in the Senate," conservative commentator and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines posted on X.
"A-freakin’-MEN!" Wendy Rogers, Republican state senator from Arizona, posted on X.
Sheehy told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night that Hegseth is going to do a "great job" and "we support him."
"That's why my questions were directed the way they were," Sheehy said. " I wanted to remind people what this job is really about and it's supporting the war fighter and protecting America."
The Senate will likely have a few Cabinet nominees who are relatively non-controversial. In the interest of time, senators could agree to expedite the process and confirm an individual nominee or several nominees by voice vote or unanimous consent.
As long as there are no objections among all 100 (currently 99) senators.
This speeds things up in the Senate, where floor time is at a premium.
However, there’s a good reason why some Democrats may oppose a streamlined process for this.
It’s not because they’re trying to clog up the Senate plumbing. Democrats may demand a roll call vote on nominees they support in order to show that they voted in a bipartisan fashion to confirm some of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees.
Democrats are likely to reject the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Defense secretary. However, other relatively easy to confirm nominees like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., picked to serve as secretary of state, or Sean Duffy for Transportation secretary, could require roll call votes.
As a result, Democrats can then argue that they voted in favor of "X" number of Mr. Trump’s nominees – and argue they operated in a bipartisan fashion.
