WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Conspiracy . Secret with dictators. An .
President s most controversial Cabinet nominees 鈥� Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and 鈥� flooded the zone Thursday in that were like nothing the Senate has seen in modern memory.
The onslaught of claims, promises and testy exchanges did not occur in a political vacuum. The whirlwind day 鈥� Day 10 of the new White House 鈥� all unfolded as Trump himself was about how diversity hiring caused the outside Washington鈥檚 Ronald Reagan National Airport.
And it capped a tumultuous week after the White House abruptly for programs Americans rely on nationwide, under guidance from Trump鈥檚 budget pick Russ Vought, only to reverse course amid a public revolt.
鈥淭he American people did not vote for this kind of senseless chaos,鈥� said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., earlier.
It was all challenging even the most loyal Republicans who are being asked to confirm Trump鈥檚 Cabinet or face recriminations from an army of online foot-soldiers aggressively promoting the White House agenda. A majority vote in the Senate, which is led by Republicans 53-57, is needed for confirmation, leaving little room for dissent.
Here are some takeaways from the day:
Tulsi Gabbard defends her loyalty 鈥� and makes some inroads
Gabbard is seen as the most endangered of Trump's picks, potentially lacking the votes even from Trump鈥檚 party for confirmation for Director of National Intelligence. But her offered a roadmap toward confirmation.
It opened with the chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., swatting back claims that Gabbard is a foreign 鈥渁sset,鈥� undercover for some other nation, presumably Russia. He said he reviewed some 300 pages of multiple FBI background checks and she鈥檚 鈥渃lean as a whistle.鈥�
But Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the panel, questioned whether she could build the trust needed, at home and abroad, to do the job.
Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, defended her loyalty to the U.S. She dismissed GOP Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, when he asked whether Russia would 鈥済et a pass鈥� from her.
鈥淪enator, I鈥檓 offended by the question,鈥� Gabbard responded.
Pressed on her secret 2017 trip to meet with then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has since been toppled by rebels and fled to Russia, she defended her work as diplomacy.
Gabbard may have made some inroads with one potentially skeptical Republican. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, asked whether Gabbard would recommend a pardon for . The former government contractor was charged with espionage after leaking a trove of sensitive intelligence material, and fled to residency in Russia.
Gabbard, who has called Snowden a brave whistleblower, said it would not be her responsibility to 鈥渁dvocate for any actions related to Snowden.鈥�
Picking up one notable endorsement, Gabbard was introduced by one of the Senate's more influential voices on intelligence matters, Richard Burr, the retired Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressed again on vaccine safety
Kennedy faced a to become Health and Human Services secretary, this time at the Senate Health committee, as senators probed his past views against vaccines and whether he would ban the abortion
But what skeptical Democratic senators have been driving at is whether Kennedy is trustworthy 鈥� if he holds fast to his past views or has shifted to new ones 鈥� echoing concerns raised by his cousin Caroline Kennedy that he is
"You鈥檝e spent your entire career undermining America鈥檚 vaccine program,鈥� said Sen. Chris Murphy D-Conn. 鈥淚t just isn鈥檛 believable that when you become secretary you are going to become consistent with science.鈥�
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., took the conversation in a different direction reading Kennedy鈥檚 comments about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in which he said in a social media post: 鈥淚t's hard to tell what is conspiracy and what isn鈥檛.鈥�
"Wow," Kaine said.
Kennedy responded that his father, the late Robert F. Kennedy, told him that people in positions of power do lie.
But Kennedy's longtime advocacy in the anti-vaccine community continued to dominate his hearings.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., choked back tears when she told Kennedy that his work caused grave harm by relitigating what is already "settled science鈥� 鈥� rather than helping the country advance toward new treatments and answers in healthcare.
But Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., immediately shifted the mood saying his own sons are fans of the nominee and he thanked Kennedy for 鈥渂ringing the light鈥� particularly to a younger generation interested in his alternative views.
Pressed on whether he would ban the abortion drug mifepristone, Kennedy said it鈥檚 up to Trump.
鈥淚 will implement his policy.鈥�
A combative Kash Patel spars with senators over his past
Kash Patel emerged as perhaps the most combative nominee in a before the Senate Judiciary Committee as the nominee to lead the FBI.
Confronted with his own past words, writings and public comments, Patel, a former Capitol Hill staffer turned Trump enthusiast, protested repeatedly that his views were being taken out of context as 鈥渦nfair鈥� smears.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., read aloud Patel's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and another about his published 鈥渆nemies list鈥� that includes former Trump officials who have been critical of the president.
鈥溾�橶e鈥檙e going to come after you,鈥欌�� she read him saying.
Patel dismissed her citations as a 鈥減artial statement鈥� and 鈥渇alse.鈥�
Klobuchar, exasperated, told senators: 鈥淚t鈥檚 his own words.鈥�
Patel has stood by Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol and of the national anthem featuring Trump and the so-called J6 choir of defendants as a fundraiser. The president played the song opening his campaign rallies.
During one jarring moment, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., asked Patel to turn around and look at the U.S. Capitol Police officers protecting the hearing room.
鈥淭ell them you鈥檙e proud of what you did. Tell them you鈥檙e proud that you raised money off of people that assaulted their colleagues, that pepper sprayed them, that beat them with poles,鈥� Schiff said.
Patel fired back: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an abject lie, you know it. I never, never, ever accepted violence against law enforcement.鈥�
Patel said he did not endorse Trump鈥檚 sweeping pardon of supporters, including violent rioters, charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
鈥淚 do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,鈥� Patel said.
In another Cabinet development, Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee advanced Trump's budget nominee Russ Vought toward confirmation after Democrats boycotted the meeting in protest.
Vought was an architect of Project 2025 and influential in the White House memo to free federal funding this week, which sparked panic in communities across the country. Advocacy organizations challenged the freeze in court, and the White House quickly , for now.
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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Matt Brown and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
