Team Trump in Hot Seat — Bondi, Rubio face grilling at Senate confirmation

US President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominees are currently undergoing Senate confirmation hearings, where they are being questioned by senators prior to the upcoming votes on their appointments.

Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, was among the first to face one of the most highly anticipated Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday.

During her testimony, she pledged to put an end to what she described as the "weaponisation" of the Justice Department. This commitment aligned closely with the President-elect’s criticisms of the agency she was nominated to lead.

"I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice," Bondi said in opening her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “That partisanship, the weaponisation will be gone.”

Democrats have raised concerns about a TV appearance in 2023 in which Bondi said: "The prosecutors will be prosecuted — the bad ones."

Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, vowed politics will play no part in her decisions as attorney general.

In a parallel hearing, Trump's pick for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said the president has option to use military force to stop Mexican drug cartels at the border.

Rubio carefully navigated a GOP question about whether he would support the use of military force on the southern border to stop Mexican drug cartels.

"That’'s an option the president has at his disposal. Obviously, it’s not one that is in the purview of the Department of State," Rubio said in response to a question from GOP Senator Dave McCormick.

He added that there’s a lot the US can do "in close partnership with our allies in Mexico” to "confront this challenge."

Rubio also argued US must rebuild industrial base to reduce dependence on Chinese goods.

Trump team working side-by-side with Biden admin

Rubio noted that Gaza’s post-conflict future will require international cooperation to succeed.

"I am hopeful that there is an agreement in place that will bring hostages back immediately," Rubio said of potential for a Gaza agreement as negotiators continue to hash out in Qatar.

He said both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration should share credit for an eventual deal. "Credit to both the Biden administration and the Trump transition working side-by-side on helping this become about and I hope that comes about," he said.

On the region more broadly, Rubio said "there are opportunities available now in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago." He referred to a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon and the ouster of Bashar al Assad in Syria.

"There are now factors at play in the Middle East that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities, not just to provide for Israel's security, but ultimately begin to confront some of these other factors," he said. "But these things, again, are going to be hard work, and they’ll require us to take advantage of those opportunities if they exist."

John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the CIA, said he supports a key government surveillance programme that authorities say is vital to national security but that critics have said it violates personal privacy.

Ratcliffe told members of the Senate intelligence committee that he believes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) provides essential information that can be used to prevent terrorist attacks and inform critical national security decisions.

He called FISA an "indispensable national security tool."

Ratcliffe added that rules in place are designed to ensure American's privacy is protected.

"Is it perfect? No," Ratcliffe said. "It is critical, it is indispensable."

'Bilingual protests'

At Rubio's confirmation hearing before Foreign Relations Committee, protesters in Spanish and English interrupted his opening statement, arguing about issues regarding the Middle East and Latin America.

Rubio, who would be first Latino Secretary of State if confirmed, joked, "I get bilingual protests which is kind of cool."

Chris Wright, nominated as secretary of energy, Sean Duffy for secretary of transportation, and Russell Vought for director of the Office of Management and Budget, are all set to appear before the relevant committees for their confirmation hearings today.

Their turn comes after Pete Hegseth, the president-elect's pick for secretary of defence, faced a contentious hearing on Tuesday.

Hegseth made a call for the return of "American warriors" to the Pentagon but faced intense scrutiny over his controversial personal history and rabid remarks.