Scoop: Heritage Action targets nine GOP senators on Trump nominees
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Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The conservative group Heritage Action is launching a new ad campaign in the home states of nine Republican senators to confirm President-elect Trump's nominees.
Why it matters: It marks the first phase of a Republican-on-Republican ad battle to pressure the handful of GOP senators who've raised concerns about Trump's nominees or have a history of clashing with him.
- The ad will run in nine states and D.C., as the first part of a larger $1 million effort that will expand to YouTube, a peer-to-peer text campaign and even a Fox News ad on Inauguration Day.
The nine states include:
- South Dakota, the home of the incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
- Kentucky, the home state of outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
- Alaska, Maine and Iowa — the home states of Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Joni Ernst, respectively, who've all been lukewarm on Trump's defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth. (Ernst sounded more open to Hegseth's nomination on Monday).
- Louisiana — the home state of Sen. Bill Cassidy, who'll have a key role in the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- North Carolina and Indiana, the home states of Sens. Thom Tillis, a moderate Republican up for reelection in 2026, and Todd Young, who didn't endorse Trump in the 2024 election.
- Utah, the home state of Sen.-elect John Curtis, who's expected to be a more moderate voice like retiring Sen. Mitt Romney.
Between the lines: The ad will direct viewers to sign a petition calling on the Senate to swiftly confirm Trump's nominees.
- Heritage Action plans to deliver the petition to senators in January.
The bottom line: "This is a soft approach to encourage them to get to a yes before the confirmation vote in January," said Heritage Action executive vice president Ryan Walker.
- "We believe that [Trump] has about 18 months to get a substantial amount of policy work done at both the congressional and legislative level, but also the executive level, and so having these folks in day one, or as quickly as the Senate can, is a great thing."
