The Senate’s prime Republican reportedly assured President-elect Donald Trump that his controversial decide for protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, has sufficient GOP assist to outlive the blistering affirmation course of.
This got here after an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the place Thune expressed extra warning. Whereas Thune mentioned the affirmation course of could be “fair,” he added, too, that every one of Trump’s disastrous picks, together with Hegseth, must “make their case in front of the committee.”
“I think these are nominees who are new enough, they’ve been going around and conducting their meetings, which I think, frankly, have gone very well, but they still have to make their case in front of the committee,” Thune added. “And, you know, we don’t know all the information about some of these nominees.”
Senate Majority Chief John Thune
With these conflicting statements, Thune gave the impression to be injecting extra uncertainty into whether or not each GOP senator would vote sure on confirming the contentious and oftentimes unqualified nominees put forth by Trump. Past Hegseth, different Cupboard appointees equivalent to Tulsi Gabbard for director of nationwide intelligence; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to guide the Division of Well being and Human Providers; and Kash Patel as Trump’s decide to be the subsequent FBI director are equally in peril.
Certainly, the destiny of Trump’s eventual Cupboard stays unsure after Republican lawmakers spent a lot of December tiptoeing round questions relating to Kennedy’s vaccine views and the accusations of sexual misconduct towards Hegseth. Whereas some Republicans have expressed full assist for Trump’s Cupboard picks, others have stopped wanting issuing a public endorsement for his most controversial picks. In concept, this could add one other wrinkle to the affirmation course of on condition that Republicans solely narrowly maintain the Senate majority.
However it’s potential that Thune’s obvious confidence towards Hegseth, particularly, relies on the truth that Hegseth has pals in excessive locations. In December, for example, a conservative group with ties to multibillionaire Elon Musk spent numerous cash on a brand new pro-Hegseth advert. It absolutely helps Hegseth, too, that Trump was by no means actually bothered by the allegations towards Hegseth. (Neither Musk nor Trump have commented publicly on whether or not Hegseth has sufficient Senate assist.)
Whereas some key Republican holdouts ultimately got here round to Hegseth’s protection, he’s nonetheless not popular with voters as of Civiqs polling for Every day Kos in December. And there’s nonetheless a lot for senators to oppose in the event that they’d be prepared to defy Trump. For one, an nameless lady accused Hegseth of raping her in a California lodge room in 2017. Whereas Hegseth and his attorneys have mentioned that the encounter was consensual and he was not charged, he did pay the accuser an undisclosed quantity.
Perhaps Thune is extra optimistic towards Hegseth’s probabilities on condition that nobody appears to be speaking about Hegseth anymore. In contrast to in early December, when each and any Hegseth ally, together with his mom, went on a media blitz to attempt to persuade senators that her son isn’t a complete piece of rubbish, they’ve gone reasonably silent now.
No matter occurs with Hegseth’s nomination—his listening to is scheduled for Jan. 14—the truth that Trump endured with it for therefore lengthy, coupled with the truth that Thune just lately expressed confidence in him becoming a member of the president-elect’s Cupboard, is yet one more reminder that Trump’s forthcoming administration shall be a catastrophe.
That’s as a result of, sure, it’s extremely harmful for each our navy and our nation {that a} man who repeatedly criticized insurance policies permitting homosexual folks to serve overtly within the U.S. navy and who has abused and exploited girls may need sufficient assist to guide the troops underneath a second Trump administration.
Now that Hegseth has a president in his picture, his fortune seems to be rising—even when it’s to our disservice.
