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By Sonam Sheth
Evening Politics Editor
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Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville said Thursday that it's "not our job" to vet President-elect Donald Trump's nominees.
"Who are we to say that we're a better picker of people than Donald Trump?" Tuberville told CNN's Manu Raju.
Raju reminded Tuberville that advising and consenting on presidential nominees is a core responsibility of the Senate.
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Tuberville acknowledged that in part, saying, "We're advise and consent. But that's more the Democrats."
"But don't you think both sides should do the vetting?" Raju asked.
"Well, you know, to some degree," the Alabama lawmaker said. "I mean, but we have to be convinced. I mean, they should do all the background work. They should go after our nominees."
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He added: "Donald Trump did all the vetting they needed to do on [Secretary of Defense nominee] Pete Hegseth. And I just can't believe we have people on our side, they're saying, 'Well, I've got to look at this.'"
Tuberville said that Republicans who voice concerns about Trump's nominees are "throwing rocks at Donald Trump. They're not throwing them at Pete Hegseth, they're throwing them at Donald Trump because they're saying, 'Well, we don't believe you did the right vetting and we don't believe he can do the job.'"
"Wait a minute," he added. "That's not our job to do that. That's the Democrats."
Trump's transition process has seen its share of difficulties; his first pick for attorney general, former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration just eight days after being nominated amid a slew of sexual misconduct and drug use allegations.
Earlier this week, Florida sheriff Chad Chronister, Trump's nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, withdrew from consideration three days after being tapped for the role.
Hegseth could be the next to go; the former Fox News host has been accused of sexual misconduct, and on Sunday, the New Yorker reported that he was intoxicated several times while he was the CEO of the Koch-backed group Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) between 2013 and 2016.
Asked about the article, Hegseth told reporters that he was "not going to dignify that with a response."
Some Republican senators appeared to be on the fence about Hegseth even before the New Yorker's report was published.
"Wow," Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said in response to the nomination last month, according to Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis called the choice "interesting," Desiderio posted on X, formerly Twitter. Senator Bill Cassidy didn't know who Hegseth was, according to NBC's Frank Thorp, and Senator Todd Young said he didn't "have a sense" about Hegseth's background, Fox News' Chad Pergram posted on X.
On Tuesday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham called the allegations against Hegseth "disturbing."
"I think some of these articles are very disturbing. He obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but some of this stuff is it's going to be difficult..." he told CBS News.
As the former Fox host continues drawing fire, multiple reports have said that Trump is weighing replacing Hegseth with another nominee; names at the top of the list include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst.
Hegseth, meanwhile, spent most of Wednesday on Capitol Hill working to shore up support from Republican senators. He remains defiant in public and told reporters on Wednesday that Trump had told him to "keep going, keep fighting."
He also told host Megyn Kelly on her podcast that he'd spoken to Trump and "things were addressed." He added that Trump assured him that "you're my guy."
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