Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) vowed to vote in support of all of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, stressing a need to get to work as soon as possible.
In the two weeks since Trump won the election against Vice President Kamala Harris, the president-elect has been busy nominating people and lawmakers for various positions in his administration, including former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. When asked if she plans to vote for Gaetz as attorney general, Blackburn said Trump has picked “some great nominees” and that she and her fellow Senate Republicans would be ready to support “every single one of them.”
“It is important that our nation have these positions filled and filled quickly, and I can tell you I’m going to be there to vote ‘aye’ on these nominations and to make certain that the president’s Cabinet and these sensitive positions are filled as quickly as we can possibly do it,” Blackburn said on NewsmaxTV’s National Report.
Gaetz’s nomination has created some controversy in Congress in part because the House Ethics Committee has been investigating him for over three years. While House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has asked the committee not to release its report on Gaetz, almost 100 House Democrats have signed a letter to the committee asking for the report’s “immediate release.”
Blackburn was also asked about Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-SC) new bill that would ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the Capitol, which Mace introduced ahead of the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE), Congress’s first transgender member. The Tennessee senator referenced her fight against transgender athletes in women’s sports, stating that she has been told by state voters how important it is “for girls to know that they are going to have those protections.”
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While Mace’s bill only relates to the Capitol and House office buildings, the South Carolina congresswoman has also said it could be “the start” for further expansion to other federal properties that receive government funding.
Johnson originally dodged answering a question Tuesday on whether or not McBride is a man or a woman, contending that he would not partake in “silly debates” on the matter. He later clarified his view by stating that while “a man cannot become a woman,” everyone should be treated “with dignity.”