Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., right, listens as Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

After Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination as Donald Trump’s attorney general in light of an ethics scandal, expectations are that Trump’s defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth will also face an uncertain path toward confirmation.

After Trump named the former Fox News host, an allegation from 2017 resurfaced where Hegseth allegedly sexually assaulted a 30-year-old woman after he spoke at the California Federation of Republican Women. The scandal appeared to surprise even those in Trump’s orbit, as members of the president-elect’s transition team told Vanity Fair that “people are upset about the distraction” and that the general feeling is “Pete [Hegseth] hasn’t been honest.”

Some Republican members of the U.S. Senate have voiced similar concerns. If Trump fails to accomplish his plan to confirm Hegseth and others through recess appointments, the Senate will need a simple majority to approve each member of Trump’s cabinet. With Republicans set to control the Senate with a 53-47 majority, the GOP can only afford three senators to defect, and this small group of senators could prevent Hegseth from joining Trump’s cabinet.

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

McConnell has served as the Republican leader in the Senate since 2007, the longest ever in U.S. history. Although he was succeeded in that role by South Dakota Sen. John Thune (R), who has not ruled out recess appointments, McConnell may still have a pivotal vote for Trump’s cabinet. Meanwhile, Hegseth has routinely bashed McConnell in recent years.

In 2022, Hegseth said on “The Mark Levin Show” that McConnell “seems unwilling to want to get to the bottom of the fact that a Democratic administration spied on a sitting president,” referencing allegations that of government surveillance on Trump.

In 2018, Hegseth railed McConnell for agreeing with Democrats on a spending bill in 2018. Hegseth was angry that the bill failed to cut spending, saying, “This is a swamp budget, this is a Mitch McConnell special.” Hegseth also called McConnell foolish in 2017 for the GOP’s failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

McConnell has been at odds with Trump since before his first administration began in 2017. The 82-year-old senator will be in office until 2027, and he has voiced subtle opposition to Trump’s recess appointment plan.

“The Constitution gives us a role in personnel called ‘advice and consent,’” McConnell said. “My view is that’s exactly what will unfold here when these nominees are actually sent forward, and we will treat them like we’ve treated all others with proper vetting.”

Joni Ernst (R-IA)

Sen. Ernst (R) is a U.S. Army veteran and Senate Armed Services Committee member who has taken issue with Hegseth’s belief that women should not serve in combat roles. Hegseth voiced this belief as recently as Nov. 7, while he was promoting his book on “The Shawn Ryan Show.” Hegseth said the inclusion of women “hasn’t made us more effective, it hasn’t made us more lethal, it has made fighting more complicated.”

Ernst told the press that Hegseth’s words will need to be explained and that Trump’s nominees need to be “thoroughly vetted.”

“I’m gonna have to visit with him about those remarks,” she said. “Even a staff member of mine, she is an infantry officer … She is a tough woman — so he is going to have to explain it.”

Ernst, who said she was sexually harassed while in the military and sexually assaulted by a boyfriend in college, has also voiced concern about Hegseth’s 2017 allegation. Although Hegseth was not charged, he settled with the alleged victim out of court by paying her an undisclosed amount of money.

“Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so we’ll have that discussion,” Ernst said.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer told reporters that he is concerned with Hegseth’s allegations.

“It’s a pretty big problem, given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military,” he told reporters Thursday.

Cramer serves alongside Ernst on the Armed Services Committee. He later voiced support for Hegseth and the rest of Trump’s nominees on Politico’s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast. Cramer also said he doesn’t think it’s likely for Trump to install his nominees without Congress.

“It gets back to that fundamental constitutional responsibility of advice and consent,” Cramer said. “It’s just hard for me to imagine a scenario where a Republican Congress would allow a recess appointment when we actually have the majority to make the decision.”