U.S. Congressman Pete Stauber’s Hermantown office was the meeting place for over a dozen concerned citizens on the morning of Tuesday, January 14th.

The group brought letters voicing their concerns over four of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees. Those mentioned in the letters were Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard.

Hegseth, who’s Senate confirmation hearing began on Tuesday, was at the forefront of most people’s concerns.

“He is incompetent, he’s not qualified, he has been accused of sexual abuse and alcohol abuse. This is the man who’s going to run the largest department in our country. We can’t have people like that running our country. It’s just going to be a danger to us considering what’s going on in the world,” said Joan Peterson, a member of the Cloquet Area Indivisible Group.

RFK Jr.’s previous comments regarding vaccines were another point of contention for the group.

“18,000 physicians have sent letters to the Senate saying that he would be a danger to our health. Somebody who doesn’t believe in vaccines, he believes in conspiracy theories, he’s said all kinds of crazy stuff,” said Peterson.

Aside from Hegseth, the other three nominees do not have confirmation hearing scheduled at this time.