The scene would have been impossible to predict three months ago: a motorcade of black sedans pulling up at the U.S. Senate to deliver JD Vance and Matt Gaetz on a mission to flex their new power.
Mr. Vance had been a junior senator from Ohio when Donald J. Trump chose him to be his running mate over the summer.
And Mr. Gaetz, a Florida congressman, inhabited the right-wing fringe, shadowed by allegations of drug use and sex with an underage girl.
On Wednesday, Mr. Vance, now the vice president-elect, returned with considerably more political capital, but also significant questions about whether it was enough to persuade his erstwhile colleagues to confirm Mr. Gaetz as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
The two men, who have campaigned together before, hunkered down for much of the day in the Strom Thurmond Room in the Capitol, an ornate conference room just steps from the Senate floor, as senators streamed in individually and in pairs.
Persons:
JD Vance, Matt Gaetz, Vance, Donald J, Trump, Gaetz, Strom Thurmond
Organizations:
U.S . Senate, Capitol
Locations:
Ohio, Florida