Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) indicated in a Sunday interview that he is open to supporting certain nominees proposed by President-elect Donald Trump during upcoming confirmation hearings.
Kim shared his thoughts during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash when asked about potentially voting for Kash Patel as FBI Director or Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
“I have had conversations with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. I had to sit down with Senator Rubio. I’m still going through the process and I want to make sure I’m doing it right,” Kim said. “But those were good conversations, where we were able to dive in deep. And so I think that there are some nominees that are people I think I can work with.”
However, Kim expressed concerns about some of Trump’s other nominees based on their past statements.
“I also am deeply concerned about what I have heard Mr. Patel say in the past and about going after things. Like, he is being nominated for a role to lead an agency that he has talked about dismantling, talked about the deep state and going after,” Kim said. “I was a career public servant before in the federal government. I worked under both Bush and Obama. I served the country, not a party. And I worry about some of the tones there.”
Regarding Hegseth, Kim said, “I hope to have a chance to be able to speak with him, but some of what he said before about not thinking that women should serve in combat, some of the other allegations that we have heard about,” he added. “I have worked at the Pentagon before in the office of the secretary of defense. I know what that job is like. And I need to know whether or not he is up to the task.”
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