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Thank you again for all your heartfelt words and kind thoughts. They are most appreciated during a very difficult time. My life and my mission go on, laser-focused on providing, to the best of my ability, reasoned analysis on an incoming administration that seems hell-bent on self-inflicted wounds.
The latest example: Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, whose colleagues have gone on record detailing his excessive alcohol consumption, told skeptical senators today that he promises to quit drinking if confirmed. Well, that should do it. Rest easy, America.
Hegseth is far from Trump’s only questionable nominee. To say his picks are controversial is an epic understatement. Norm-busting, polarizing, and horrifying might be better modifiers. Uniquely unqualified also comes to mind. It feels as though he is choosing people specifically to annoy and to tweak, even those in his own party.
Summer interns receive more scrutiny from prospective employers than Trump’s Cabinet picks. Maybe a background check or two would have prevented private flaws from becoming public fodder. But then again this is Trump (see 2016-2020). He swings from whim to whim.
One would think Trump wants to surround himself with people who will make him look good. After all, wanting to look good is a major motivator for the former reality TV star. But many of his nominees not only will make him look bad but also represent a threat to this nation’s very existence and security. That is not hyperbole.
For those keeping score at home — two nominees have withdrawn from consideration so far, and one is a hair’s breadth away from dropping out because he is not expected to have the necessary Senate votes. A handful more are so suspect they may not survive the confirmation process.
For some historical context, that’s unprecedented. In the history of the United States, only 12 Cabinet nominations have been rejected by the Senate — the most recent one by a Senate controlled by the opposition party. You have to go back to 1925 to find a nominee rejected by the president’s own party. That was Charles Warren, nominated by Calvin Coolidge to be attorney general.
What is going on here? To hear Trump tell it, he won by a landslide (he did not — he won by 1.5 points) thus giving him a “historical mandate” to make sweeping changes in Washington. So he thought he could push through any — and I mean any — nominee, regardless of inadequate qualifications or previous misbehavior. But there is a pesky thing called the Advice and Consent clause of the Constitution, which gives the Senate the job of confirming hundreds of executive branch appointees. One assumes Trump didn’t think this would be an issue since Republicans have gained a majority in the Senate. But the Senate is a body steeped in history, and some of its members take their responsibilities seriously. Thank goodness.
For many Republican senators, the confirmation process will be a balancing act between loyalty to Trump and loyalty to the country. Right now, Trump isn’t winning in the way he thinks he deserves.
Last week, both the old and new guard in the Senate refused to give Trump a blank check. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that “none of this is going to be easy.”
“Each of these nominees needs to come before the Senate and go through the process and be vetted,” said outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. That may sound mild, but in Washington parlance, them’s fightin’ words.
The setbacks for many of Trump’s nominees raise questions about the amount of power Trump actually has. Second-term presidents tend to wield less of it because they can’t run again. And with only a handful of Republican senators up for reelection in two years, when they might seek support from the sitting president, Trump doesn’t have a lot of carrots to dangle.
So who are these flawed nominees?
Matt Gaetz for attorney general
Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration after a litany of allegations came to light, including sex with a minor and illegal drug use.
Chad Chronister for head of the Drug Enforcement Administration
Chronister, the sheriff of a county in Florida, announced his withdrawal from consideration on X. He posted that he made his decision “as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in.”
Kash Patel for director of the FBI
Patel is a Trump sycophant who held several positions in the first administration. In 2020, when he was a national intelligence official, Patel inserted himself into a hostage rescue operation in Nigeria that almost ended in disaster because of him. He assured the Departments of State and Defense that the Nigerian government had okayed the U.S. military to fly into Nigerian airspace. It had not; SEAL Team Six’s aircraft had to circle until clearances had been approved. Patel also plans to purge the agency of those who are deemed disloyal, has vowed to prosecute journalists, and wants to shut down the FBI headquarters in Washington.
Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense
This is the one hanging on by a thread. In fact, by the time you read this, Hegseth may have withdrawn. The former Fox “News” weekend host has had a rough week, thanks to excellent reporting by The New Yorker's Jane Mayer. She revealed that Hegseth stepped down from not one but two veterans organizations he ran, because of “allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.” A former employee of Hegseth said that at a company event he was “drunkenly chanting ‘Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!’”
Today Hegseth said he will “keep fighting,” even as Senator Lindsey Graham said the allegations against Hegseth are “very disturbing.”
The last time a Cabinet nominee was rejected by the Senate was in 1989, when President George H. W. Bush nominated Senator John Tower to be secretary of defense. Amid allegations of alcohol abuse and womanizing, he was not approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence
Besides having no intelligence experience, the former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii has been called a Putin apologist, to the point that Russia’s state-run media said she would be a great choice. One Senate aide told The Hill, “There are members of our conference who think she’s a [Russian] asset.” Senators have expressed concerns about her trustworthiness. Trustworthiness should be at the top of the list for anyone trying to become the head of national intelligence.
Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota spoke with reporters this week about Trump’s nominees. “You always do your best to give the president the benefit of the doubt, because he’s the one who’s accountable for making the nomination in the first place.”
Yes, he is the one accountable. If any of these disastrous appointees make it through the Senate, he will ultimately be responsible should they fail him and the American people.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
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