Politics

The Cabinet, by the Vote

Every major nominee, how Utah’s senators voted, and who is still there. Four Cabinet officials were gone within sixteen months.

The argument

A president is entitled to pick his own team, and senators usually defer. That is a long tradition, and it is not unreasonable. But the Senate’s consent is a real check, and the Constitution puts it there on purpose. This page records how Utah’s senators used it.

Mike Lee and John Curtis voted to confirm every major nominee on this page, including the ones who were confirmed by a single vote. By the spring of 2026, four Cabinet officials had been fired or had resigned, including the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security, both removed by the president who chose them.

Utah voted yes, every time.Both senators, on every nominee below.

Some were confirmed by a single vote.Hegseth by a vice president’s tiebreak, and Blanche as attorney general 50 to 49. Patel won by two.

Then the turnover.Noem in March 2026, Bondi and the labor secretary in April, Gabbard announcing her exit in May.

The president fired his own picks.The attorney general and the Homeland Security secretary.

1. The votes

Confirmation votes, and how Utah voted

Every vote linked to the Senate’s own record.

Nominee	Job	Senate vote	Lee and Curtis	Still there?
Pete Hegseth	Defense	50–50, VP tiebreak	Yes, yes	Yes (his page)
Kristi Noem	Homeland Security	59–34	Yes, yes	No, removed March 2026
Pam Bondi	Attorney General	54–46	Yes, yes	No, fired April 2026
Russ Vought	Budget office	53–47	Yes, yes	Yes
Tulsi Gabbard	National Intelligence	52–48	Yes, yes	No, resigned May 2026
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.	Health and Human Services	52–48	Yes, yes	Yes (his page)
Howard Lutnick	Commerce	51–45	Yes, yes	Yes
Kash Patel	FBI Director	51–49	Yes, yes	Yes
Linda McMahon	Education	51–45	Yes, yes	Yes

Source: U.S. Senate roll call votes, 119th Congress. Status as of October 12, 2026.

The replacements went the same way. Utah’s senators voted to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin at Homeland Security in March 2026 (54 to 45), and Todd Blanche as attorney general in August 2026 (50 to 49).

2. The turnover

Kristi Noem was removed as Homeland Security secretary, announced March 5, 2026, as NPR, the AP and the New York Times reported, and replaced by Mullin.
Pam Bondi was fired as attorney general on April 2, 2026, as the New York Times, CNN and the AP reported. Her deputy, Todd Blanche, became acting attorney general and was confirmed in August. No official reason was given. Her tenure is covered on The Epstein Files and Abuse of Power.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned as labor secretary in April 2026, during an inspector general investigation. The report released in September described a “toxic” atmosphere, drinking at work and misused funds, as NBC News reported.
Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation as director of national intelligence on May 22, 2026, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis, as NPR reported.

Turnover happens in every administration, and a resignation for a family illness is not a scandal. But when a president fires the attorney general and the Homeland Security secretary he picked himself, it is fair to ask what the Senate’s yes votes were based on.

3. The nominee who did not make it

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the president’s first choice for attorney general, withdrew on November 21, 2024, before any vote. A House Ethics Committee report released after he withdrew found evidence that he had paid for sex, including with a 17-year-old. The Justice Department had declined to charge him, and he denies wrongdoing.

What is true on the other side

Senators traditionally defer to a president’s choices for his own Cabinet, and most nominees in most administrations are confirmed.
Several of these officials are still in office, and their supporters credit them with carrying out the agenda voters chose.
A senator’s vote is a judgment made with the information available at the time. Some of what happened came later.

The common rebuttals

“Elections have consequences. The president gets his team.”

He does, through the Senate. Three Republicans voted against Hegseth, and two, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted against Patel. The power to say no is real, and Utah’s senators did not use it once on this list.

What this means

The Senate’s job is to check the president’s choices. On every name on this page, Utah’s senators said yes.

This page is part of a 110-topic library. Every claim links to its source, most of them the Church’s own. Read it on the full site or browse every topic.