Forget driverless cars. One company wants autonomous helicopters to spray crops and fight firesPNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. ( NYSE:PNW – Free Report ) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Pinnacle West Capital were worth $5,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 150,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Pinnacle West Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $7,473,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 854,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,869,000 after acquiring an additional 101,971 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 244.6% in the first quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 22,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 15,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 5.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 641,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,967,000 after purchasing an additional 31,183 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Pinnacle West Capital Stock Down 0.7 % Shares of NYSE PNW opened at $92.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.52. Pinnacle West Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $65.20 and a 52-week high of $94.38. Pinnacle West Capital Increases Dividend Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays cut Pinnacle West Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pinnacle West Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.88. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Pinnacle West Capital Pinnacle West Capital Company Profile ( Free Report ) Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, through its subsidiary, provides retail and wholesale electric services primarily in the state of Arizona. The company engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity using coal, nuclear, gas, oil, and solar generating facilities. Its transmission facilities include overhead lines and underground lines; and distribution facilities consist of overhead lines and underground primary cables. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PNW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pinnacle West Capital Co. ( NYSE:PNW – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Pinnacle West Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pinnacle West Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Nigel Farage of “fakery” over Reform UK membership numbers, after his party claimed they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”, but Mr Farage said he would “gladly invite” a firm to “audit our membership numbers” as long as the Conservatives do the same. The row comes after a digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Manipulating your own supporters at Xmas eh, Nigel?It’s not real. It’s a fake ⏰ coded to tick up automatically. We’ve been watching the back end for days and can also see they’ve just changed the code to link to a different site as people point this out. Farage doesn’t... https://t.co/2tAsszfHsG — Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) December 26, 2024 When the figure was announced, Mr Farage said it was an “historic moment”. However in a thread on X later on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said it was “a fake” and used a clock emoji to say that it was “coded to tick up automatically”. She added that “we’ve been watching the back end” of the counter “for days” Mrs Badenoch added: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn, but Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. In response to the thread, Mr Farage said that the “Conservative brand is dying” under Mrs Badenoch’s leadership, and added: “We will gladly invite one of the Big 4 firms in to audit our membership numbers as long as you do the same.” The official Reform X account also posted an image that it said included a “screenshot of our internal membership numbers”, which appeared to show figures at more than 134,000. Hi Kemi, this is very embarrassing for you. Here is a screenshot of our internal membership numbers. Whether you like it or not, we have more members. We are the real opposition. https://t.co/mS8VbkAi8N pic.twitter.com/Rb47zrsZ04 — Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) December 26, 2024 In a post on X on Thursday evening, Mr Farage said that “over 5,000 people have joined Reform today”. A research briefing published by the House of Commons Library in 2022 said comparing party membership numbers can be “difficult”, saying there is not a uniformly recognised definition of membership, or an established method to monitor it. Over 5,000 people have joined Reform today, another record day. Click the link below to join the fastest growing movement in British politics. https://t.co/5g6BAtEkUb — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 26, 2024 Luke Tryl, director of the More in Common think tank, similarly told the PA news agency it is an “opaque” process. Speaking before Mrs Badenoch made her accusations, Mr Tryl said: “Parties are notoriously opaque about this sort of thing”. He described party membership as “very opaque and murky as a metric anyway”. On Reform, Mr Tryl said one of the challenges for the party will be whether membership converts to campaigners. He told PA: “There is no doubt Reform had a very good autumn. I think they capitalised off some of Labour’s early mistakes, but also the fact the Conservative brand is still struggling. They’ve clearly got momentum.” Discussing Reform’s membership, he said: “We know that lots of Reform’s most vocal supporters are very online. “Do those people who are very online and joined up, do they also go out and pound the streets, deliver leaflets, canvass, that sort of thing? “That remains an open question.” Reform was set up as a limited company and in September Mr Farage announced that he would change the ownership structure so that it would be owned by members. “I no longer need to control this party,” he said at the time. In a video posted on X, he said: “We will change the structure of the party from one limited by shares to a company limited by guarantee, and that means it’s the members of Reform that will own this party.”
The Mountain Cluster will host events such as ski mountaineering, bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton. Athletes will test their skills and bravery on the challenging mountain courses, pushing themselves to the limit in pursuit of victory. The adrenaline-pumping races down the tracks and slopes will keep spectators on the edge of their seats.The purpose of has mystified Britons for thousands of years, but researchers think they may now know the theory behind its creation. Experts believe the stone circle was created with rocks and boulders from all corners of ancient Britain as a symbol of unity against foreign invaders. Its construction came amid an from mainland Europe – countries now known as Germany and the Netherlands in particular – and may have been a political monument to unite indigenous Britons. The theory has come about as a result of the recent revelation that the prominent altar stone was actually from , rather than Wales, as had long been believed. The stone travelled some 430 miles from Scotland’s Orcadian Basin arriving about 2,500BC. Prof Mike Parker Pearson, the study’s lead author from the University College London’s y, said its design to include stones from different places in the country makes it “unique among over 900 stone circles in Britain”. He said it suggested “the stone circle may have had a political as well as a religious purpose – as a monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos”. “ stands out in being a material and monumental microcosm of the entirety of the British Isles,” he added. ’s 43 “bluestones” were brought from the Preseli Hills in west Wales, about 140 miles away. Its larger “sarsen” stones were hauled from their sources at least 15 miles away to the north and east of the stone circle and are thought to originate in the West Woods. Prof Parker Pearson said: “We’ve known for a while that people came from many different parts of Britain with their pigs and cattle to feast at Durrington Walls, and nearly half the people buried at had lived somewhere other than Salisbury Plain. “The similarities in architecture and material culture between the area and northern Scotland now make more sense.” Prof Richard Bevins, co-author from Aberystwyth University, looked into the geology of the stones. He said: “Our research is like forensic science. We are a small team of earth scientists, each bringing their own area of expertise; it is this combination of skills that has allowed us to identify the sources of the bluestones, and now the altar stone.” It was uncovered earlier this year that the six-ton altar stone originated in Scotland and arrived at the time was remodelled from its original form. It is similar in size and placement to the large, horizontal stones in the stone circles of north-east Scotland. The altar stone has often been overlooked because it lies flat and is partly obscured by a huge fallen sarsen. It had been assumed it had also fallen, but the researchers explained that in Scotland multiple circles have stones that are purposely laid flat. “Given what we now know about where it’s from, it seems all the more likely that it was deliberately set as a recumbent stone,” Prof Parker Pearson said. He added that it was “highly likely” that the altar stone had been part of an earlier Scottish monument and that “these stones are not just plucked out of anywhere”. The Welsh bluestones are believed to have arrived for the first construction of Stonehenge, but for the second iteration there was more contact between Britain and Europe. Over the years there have been numerous theories about Stonehenge, ranging from a temple to an observatory and , but the new insight adds weight to it being a monument to unify Britons against foreign invaders. Prof Parker Pearson said. “It’s not a temple – that has been a major stumbling block for hundreds of years. It’s not a calendar, and it’s not an observatory. “I think we’ve just not been looking at Stonehenge in the right way. You really have to look at all of it to work out what they’re doing. They’re constructing a monument that is expressing the permanence of particular aspects in their world.” Ultimately, the new European arrivals brought to Britain advancements in metal working and the wheel, and would gradually replace indigenous Britons over the following four centuries to become the dominant population on the island, the researchers said. The research will be published in Archaeology International.
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The Indian arm of UK-headquartered pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has laid off more than 125 employees from its biopharmaceutical business unit, according to people aware of the development. ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for Among them are some 20 senior managers and 110 executives at various levels in the sales department, the people cited earlier told ET. The downsizing has affected employees across the board and includes those having put in 15 years in the company, they said. AstraZeneca India confirmed that the headcount has changed but did not say how many jobs have been cut. "In the biopharmaceutical business unit, we are furthering efforts to deliver the next generation of therapeutics in our pipeline, focusing on specialists, science and innovation, while improving access of our existing portfolio in specialist disease areas," a company spokesperson said in an email response to ET's query. The company statement said, "This has led to strategic restructuring of our biopharmaceutical team impacting certain roles. We are fully cognizant of the impact this has caused, and our first responsibility remains towards our employees and meeting the needs of patients." 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View Program Data Science SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI and Analytics based Business Strategy By - Tanusree De, Managing Director- Accenture Technology Lead, Trustworthy AI Center of Excellence: ATCI View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.NET Core MVC 6 Project Guide for 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Pam Moore By - Pam Moore, Digital Transformation and Social Media Expert View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI-Powered Python Mastery with Tabnine: Boost Your Coding Skills By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and 365 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital marketing - Wordpress Website Development By - Shraddha Somani, Digital Marketing Trainer, Consultant, Strategiest and Subject Matter expert View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Financial Literacy i.e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By - CA Rahul Gupta, CA with 10+ years of experience and Accounting Educator View Program Data Science SQL Server Bootcamp 2024: Transform from Beginner to Pro By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program The biopharmaceutical business unit, also known internally as CVRM (cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic) comprised 250 to 300 jobs, of which nearly half have been cut. The unit sold some of the old, legacy brands such as anti-cholesterol brand Crestor, clot buster Brilinta and Forxiga, one of the best prescribed brands for the treatment of diabetes. Along with a few other brands, the annual sales from the biopharma unit were around ₹400 crore, according to an industry source. However, the loss of patent exclusivity of these brands in India resulted in a deluge of generic drugs in the market. "When dapagliflozin (Forxiga) lost its patent rights four years ago, at least 250 generic substitutes came in. It gets tough for MNCs to compete on pricing," the source said. However, AstraZeneca's ambitions for India remain. A significant traction is seen in its new wave of patented drugs like Tagrisso for lung cancer, Koselugo for a rare genetic disorder, Breztri (drug to treat COPD) and Enhertu used in the treatment of breast and gastric cancer. In that direction, AstraZeneca said in the statement, "Our aspiration to be pioneers in science has increased our focus on specialist disease areas where we can make the most meaningful difference in helping people with cancer, other chronic and rare diseases." Over the last few years, AstraZeneca has seen a series of job cuts in its core India operations, while it has continued to invest and ramped up capacity at its global capability centres at Bengaluru and Chennai to support research and innovation efforts. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 31, 2024. Click here to submit your entry for any one or more of the 22 categories and stand a chance to win a prestigious award. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )The Financial Services Institutions Bureau ( FSIB ) on Saturday recommended Binod Kumar for the post of Managing Director of Chennai-based Indian Bank . Kumar, who is serving as Executive Director of Punjab National Bank , will replace S L Jain on his superannuation next month. Declaring the result of the selection process, the FSIB -- the headhunter for directors of state-owned banks and financial institutions -- in a statement said the bureau interviewed 15 candidates on Sunday. "Keeping in view their performance in the interface, their overall experience and the extant parameters, the Bureau recommends Binod Kumar for the position of MD & CEO in Indian Bank," it said. Earlier in April, the bureau had selected Asheesh Pandey for the position but the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had raised some reservation over his name. Therefore, the bureau held a fresh interview to choose a new person in place of Pandey. The final decision on the FSIB recommendation would be taken by the appointments committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 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Other members of the headhunter are Animesh Chauhan, former chairman and MD of erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce, the RBI's former executive director Deepak Singhal, and Shailendra Bhandari, ex-MD of erstwhile ING Vysya Bank. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is November 30, 2024. Click here to submit your entry for any one or more of the 22 categories and stand a chance to win a prestigious award. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Gradually, the website began to stabilize, and users were able to access the platform once again. Apologetic messages were posted across social media channels, acknowledging the technical difficulties and thanking users for their patience and understanding. Slowly but surely, normalcy returned as the website regained its footing and accommodated the influx of visitors.Wilmington Tackles Lead with Cutting-Edge Service Line Mapping—A National Model in the MakingPanchayat funds data not uploaded, HC warns Hry of action
The draw against Arsenal marked another positive result for Fulham as they continue to battle for survival in the Premier League. With crucial points at stake in the final stretch of the season, Reed stressed the importance of maintaining focus and determination in every match.Boxing Day shopper footfall was down 7.9% from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 5pm, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found. However, this year’s data had been compared with an unusual spike in footfall as 2023 was the first “proper Christmas” period without Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, an analyst at the retail technology company said. It found £4.6 billion will be spent overall on the festive sales. Before the pandemic the number of Boxing Day shoppers on the streets had been declining year on year. The last uplift recorded by MRI was in 2015. Jenni Matthews, marketing and insights director at MRI Software, told the PA news agency: “We’ve got to bear in mind that (last year) was our first proper Christmas without any (Covid-19) restrictions or limitations. “Figures have come out that things have stabilised, we’re almost back to what we saw pre-pandemic.” There were year-on-year declines in footfall anywhere between 5% and 12% before Covid-19 restrictions, she said. MRI found 12% fewer people were out shopping on Boxing Day in 2019 than in 2018, and there were 3% fewer in 2018 than in 2017, Ms Matthews added. She said: “It’s the shift to online shopping, it’s the convenience, you’ve got the family days that take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.” People are also increasingly stocking-up before Christmas, Ms Matthews said, and MRI found an 18% increase in footfall at all UK retail destinations on Christmas Eve this year compared with 2023. Ms Matthews said: “We see the shops are full of people all the way up to Christmas Eve, so they’ve probably got a couple of good days of food, goodies, everything that they need, and they don’t really need to go out again until later on in that week. “We did see that big boost on Christmas Eve. It looks like shoppers may have concentrated much of their spending in that pre-Christmas rush.” Many online sales kicked off between December 23 and the night of Christmas Day and “a lot of people would have grabbed those bargains from the comfort of their own home”, she said. She added: “I feel like it’s becoming more and more common that people are grabbing the bargains pre-Christmas.” Footfall is expected to rise on December 27 as people emerge from family visits and shops re-open, including Next, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis that all shut for Boxing Day. It will also be payday for some as it is the last Friday of the month. A study by Barclays Consumer Spend had forecast that shoppers would spend £236 each on average in the Boxing Day sales this year, but that the majority of purchases would be made online. Nearly half of respondents said the cost-of-living crisis will affect their post-Christmas shopping but the forecast average spend is still £50 more per person than it was before the pandemic, with some of that figure because of inflation, Barclays said. Amid the financial pressures, many people are planning to buy practical, perishable and essential items such as food and kitchenware. A total of 65% of shoppers are expecting to spend the majority of their sales budget online. Last year, Barclays found 63.9% of Boxing Day retail purchases were made online. However, a quarter of respondents aim to spend mostly in store – an 11% rise compared with last year. Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: “Despite the ongoing cost-of-living pressures, it is encouraging to hear that consumers will be actively participating in the post-Christmas sales. “This year, we’re likely to see a shift towards practicality and sustainability, with more shoppers looking to bag bargains on kitchen appliances and second-hand goods.” Consumers choose in-store shopping largely because they enjoy the social aspect and touching items before they buy, Barclays said, adding that high streets and shopping centres are the most popular destinations.Title: Opta Predicts Champions League Standings: Liverpool 1st, Real Madrid 21st, PSG 24th
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill rallied around Pete Hegseth , Trump’s Pentagon pick, on Thursday even as new details surfaced about allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. The GOP embrace of Hegseth came as another controversial Trump nominee, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration for attorney general. Gaetz said it was clear he had become a “distraction" amid pressure on the House to release an ethics report about allegations of his own sexual misconduct. An attorney for two women has said that his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman. Fresh questions over the two nominees' pasts, and their treatment of women, arose with Republicans under pressure from Trump and his allies to quickly confirm his Cabinet. At the same time, his transition has so far balked at the vetting and background checks that have traditionally been required. While few Republican senators have publicly criticized any of Trump's nominees, it became clear after Gaetz's withdrawal that many had been harboring private concerns about him. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served with Gaetz in the House, said it was a “positive move.” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said it was a “positive development.” Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Gaetz “put country first and I am pleased with his decision.” After meeting with Hegseth, though, Republicans rallied around him. “I think he’s going to be in pretty good shape,” said Wicker, who is expected to chair the Senate Armed Services Committee in the next Congress. Republican senators' careful words, and their early reluctance to publicly question Trump's picks, illustrated not only their fear of retribution from the incoming president but also some of their hopes that the confirmation process can proceed normally, with proper vetting and background checks that could potentially disqualify problematic nominees earlier. Gaetz withdrew after meeting with senators on Wednesday. Sen. Thom Tillis said Gaetz was “in a pressure cooker” when he decided to withdraw, but suggested that it would have little bearing on Trump’s other nominees. “Transactions — one at a time,” he said. As the Hegseth nomination proceeds, Republicans also appear to be betting that they won't face much backlash for publicly setting aside the allegations of sexual misconduct — especially after Trump won election after being found liable for sexual abuse last year. Hegseth held a round of private meetings alongside incoming Vice President JD Vance on Thursday in an attempt to shore up support and told reporters afterward: “The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m gonna leave it.” A 22-page police report report made public late Wednesday offered the first detailed account of the allegations against him. A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, a nurse who treated her, a hotel staffer, another woman at the event and Hegseth. Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Palatore, said the incident was “fully investigated and police found the allegations to be false.” Hegseth paid the woman in 2023 as part of a confidential settlement to head off the threat of what he described as a baseless lawsuit, Palatore has said. Wicker played down the allegations against Hegseth, a former Fox News host, saying that “since no charges were brought from the authorities, we only have press reports.” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said after his meeting with Hegseth that he "shared with him the fact that I was saddened by the attacks that are coming his way.” Hagerty dismissed the allegations as “a he-said, she-said thing” and called it a “shame” that they were being raised at all. The senator said attention should instead be focused on the Defense Department that Hegseth would head. It's one of the most complex parts of the federal government with more than 3 million employees, including military service members and civilians. Sexual assault has been a persistent problem in the military, though Pentagon officials have been cautiously optimistic they are seeing a decline in reported sexual assaults among active-duty service members and the military academies. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who will be the No. 2 Republican in the Senate next year, said after his meeting with Hegseth that the nominee is a strong candidate who “pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power – not the current administration’s woke political agenda.” Senate Republicans are under pressure to hold hearings once they take office in January and confirm nominees as soon as Trump is inaugurated, despite questions about whether Trump’s choices will be properly screened or if some, like Hegseth, have enough experience for the job. Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, who will be the top Democrat on the panel next year, said the reports on Hegseth “emphasized the need for a thorough investigation by the FBI on the background of all the nominees.” It takes a simple majority to approve Cabinet nominations, meaning that if Democrats all opposed a nominee, four Republican senators would also have to defect for any Trump choice to be defeated. Trump has made clear he’s willing to put maximum pressure on Senate Republicans to give him the nominees he wants – even suggesting at one point that they allow him to just appoint his nominees with no Senate votes. But senators insist, for now, that they are not giving up their constitutional power to have a say. “The president has the right to make the nominations that he sees fit, but the Senate also has a responsibility for advice and consent,” said Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. In the case of Gaetz, he said, “I think there was advice offered rather than consent.” Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!