Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader for a few more weeks, is not known for keeping his thoughts to himself. But he has been uncharacteristically restrained about offering up his views on even the most eyebrow-raising potential Trump administration nominees emanating from Mar-a-Lago.

“We’re going to wait and see what happens in each of these instances before commenting,” Mr. Schumer told reporters this week, passing up a television camera-ready opportunity he would normally grab to slip a knife into any of the president-elect’s cabinet picks.

He is keeping quiet for a reason, and it is not because he does not have opinions on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration in the making. With some Republicans raising their own profound concerns about Mr. Trump’s ethically and legally challenged choices, such as the former Representative Matt Gaetz to be attorney general and the Fox News personality Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, why get in the way of their intraparty hand-wringing?

Mr. Schumer does not want Republicans to be able to paint him as the face of the opposition, a prospect that could help rally the G.O.P. around Mr. Trump’s choices.

His colleagues endorse it as the right move.

“I think this is a moment for Republicans to debate among themselves,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. “Why get in the middle of a food fight?”

The strategy seems to be paying dividends. When Mr. Gaetz suddenly dropped out of the running on Thursday, he claimed privately that a handful of recalcitrant Republicans — Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as Senator-elect John Curtis of Utah — had prompted his exit. Right-wing activists quickly went after them, calling on MAGA world to vote them out. (Mr. Curtis, who had said nothing publicly about Mr. Gaetz’s nomination, will not even be sworn in until January.)

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