Six Republicans to watch when the Senate takes up Trump nominees

President-elect Donald Trump is testing the limits of Senate Republican loyalty with some of his picks for top posts in his upcoming administration.

Assuming Democrats unite in opposition to most of his nominees, Mr. Trump will need at least 50 of the 53 Republicans who will serve in the Senate next Congress to vote to confirm his picks. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance would be able to cast a 51st tiebreaking vote if necessary. 

Senate Republicans are mostly pleased with Mr. Trump’s choices, but a few unconventional picks have raised questions that could turn into opposition. That includes Mr. Trump’s selection of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

Will Senate Republicans fall in line behind those and other Trump picks? Many have indicated they will, but there are at least six GOP senators to watch as the confirmation proceedings unfold.  

Sen. Susan M. Collins of Maine

Sen. Susan M. Collins, one of the most moderate GOP senators, did not vote for Mr. Trump in the presidential election and has a record of bucking her party when it serves her personal politics or constituents. She was among seven Republicans in 2021 who voted to convict Mr. Trump during his second impeachment trial on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

As Ms. Collins plans to run for another term in 2026, she will again be one of Senate Democrats’ top targets. That means every vote she casts over the next two years will be closely scrutinized, including those on Mr. Trump’s nominees.

But Ms. Collins was not up for reelection in 2017 when she voted against two of Mr. Trump’s first-term Cabinet picks, Betsy DeVos for education secretary and Scott Pruitt for Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

The reasons she cited for opposing Ms. DeVos — “lack of experience with public schools” that are at the core of the Education Department’s mission — and Mr. Pruitt — they have “fundamentally different views of the role and mission of the EPA” — could translate to current Trump nominees who do not have much experience or who want to fundamentally overhaul the parts of government they hope to lead.

Ms. Collins said she views the Senate’s constitutional role of “advice and consent” on presidential nominations as “very important” and plans to look at all of Mr. Trump’s picks through that lens. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is a lot like Ms. Collins. She is among the Senate’s most moderate Republicans, did not back Mr. Trump for president and voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial. 

She also voted against Ms. DeVos in 2017, citing her “lack of experience with public education.” 

More notably, Ms. Murkowski was the only Republican to oppose Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation (although she officially voted “present” to offset a GOP supporter’s absence). She cited his loss of public confidence amid a grueling confirmation process that featured allegations of sexual assault.

Ms. Murkowski has raised questions about some of Mr. Trump’s picks, noting her views on vaccines differ from longtime vaccine skeptic Mr. Kennedy, for example. But she has mostly declined to comment at this early stage of the confirmation process.

“Nobody gets any job until we have to get through the whole process, which is in January, so check in with me in weeks, weeks, weeks,” Ms. Murkowski said.

“I meet with all the nominees because it’s important,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever not met with a president’s Cabinet picks when they’re going through the review process.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longtime Senate Republican leader, is stepping down from leadership next Congress and could choose to exercise his newfound freedom with votes against nominees who don’t align with his views, particularly on national security matters.

As a rank-and-file member, Mr. McConnell is unlikely to stray too far from the party line or make life difficult for the new GOP leadership team he has worked closely with over the years.

But Mr. McConnell has made clear he will spend the next two years — perhaps his last in the Senate, as the 82-year-old senator has not said whether he plans to run for reelection in 2026 — focused on boosting the national defense and U.S. allies in democracy. 

Ms. Gabbard, in particular, is likely to draw questions, if not opposition, from Mr. McConnell, a strong supporter of Ukraine, for her past comments parroting Russian talking points.

For now, as he finishes out his final term as GOP leader, Mr. McConnell is offering safe commentary about his approach to Mr. Trump’s nominees. 

“I am confident that we’ll engage in the same kind of vetting process that we have historically done under both parties,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky

Sen. Rand Paul is a libertarian conservative who is never afraid to vote against his party in adherence to his own ideological beliefs.

During Mr. Trump’s first term, he opposed the president’s top intelligence picks, Mike Pompeo for CIA director and Dan Coats for director of national intelligence.

Mr. Paul’s views most often stray from the mainstream GOP when it comes to U.S. intervention in foreign wars, intelligence-gathering methods and strict fiscal discipline. But with Mr. Trump looking to shake up things in some of those areas, Mr. Paul could align more with the incoming administration than some of his more establishment GOP colleagues. 

He told The Washington Times he would look through each of Mr. Trump’s nominees and their qualifications individually. Asked if he has any concerns about any of the picks so far, Mr. Paul said, “Nothing in particular.” 

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana

While Sen. Todd Young voted for all of Mr. Trump’s first-term Cabinet nominees, he has since distanced himself from the former and future president. He declined to support Mr. Trump’s most recent bid for the Republican presidential nomination, in part because he questioned his views on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Mr. Young told The Times the president-elect “deserves a measure of deference” in whom he picks to serve in the administration, but that he also values his responsibility as a senator to provide “advice and consent” on the nominees. 

While the Trump picks he is already acquainted with are “strong,” Mr. Young said, “there are a handful of nominees with whom I’m not acquainted yet, and I’m reserving judgment until I can become better acquainted.” 

While he declined to provide names, he said to look at nominees he has not said anything about on his social media account, which includes Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Hegseth and Ms. Gabbard.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana

Sen. Bill Cassidy is also an occasional Trump critic and one of the seven Republicans who voted to convict him during his second impeachment trial.

While he supported all of Mr. Trump’s first-term Cabinet nominees, he will play an outsized role in vetting one of his most controversial second-term picks. 

Mr. Cassidy will chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Congress that will oversee Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation process. He said he has yet to meet him and will withhold judgment on him until then.

“I’d like him to define himself instead of being defined by what I’ve read in the press, etc.,” he said.

Mr. Cassidy said he will take the same approach to other nominees who fall outside his committee’s jurisdiction, too.

“It may be after meeting and doing investigation I have concerns, but that’s just kind of my due diligence process,” he said.