The Senate’s prime Republican reportedly assured President-elect Donald Trump that his controversial choose for protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, has sufficient GOP assist to outlive the blistering affirmation course of.
Based on CBS Information, which cited three sources, Senate Majority Chief John Thune assured Trump this previous weekend that Hegseth shouldn’t have any hassle clearing the vote requirement wanted to change into a member of Trump’s Cupboard.
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 can be “fair,” he added, too, that each 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.”
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 akin to Tulsi Gabbard for director of nationwide intelligence; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to guide the Division of Well being and Human Companies; and Kash Patel as Trump’s choose 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 concerning Kennedy’s vaccine views and the accusations of sexual misconduct in opposition to Hegseth. Whereas some Republicans have expressed full assist for Trump’s Cupboard picks, others have stopped brief of issuing a public endorsement for his most controversial picks. In concept, this could add one other wrinkle to the affirmation course of provided that Republicans solely narrowly maintain the Senate majority.
Nevertheless it’s doable that Thune’s obvious confidence towards Hegseth, particularly, is based on the truth that Hegseth has associates in excessive locations. In December, as an illustration, a conservative group with ties to multibillionaire Elon Musk spent numerous cash on a brand new pro-Hegseth advert. It certainly helps Hegseth, too, that Trump was by no means actually bothered by the allegations in opposition to 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 well liked by voters as of Civiqs polling for Day by day Kos in December. And there’s nonetheless loads for senators to oppose in the event that they’d be keen to defy Trump. For one, an nameless girl accused Hegseth of raping her in a California lodge room in 2017. Whereas Hegseth and his legal professionals have mentioned that the encounter was consensual and he was not charged, he did pay the accuser an undisclosed quantity.
Past that, Hegseth is prone to face a frenzy of uncomfortable questions on experiences of his extreme ingesting. A report in The New Yorker alleged that Hegseth as soon as drunkenly shouted “kill all Muslims” after a 2015 rendezvous at a bar. (This looks as if a great place to remind voters—and perhaps even Hegseth—that the previous Fox Information contributor promised to cease ingesting alcohol if he’s confirmed to go the federal division charged with main the nation’s armed forces.)
Perhaps Thune is extra optimistic towards Hegseth’s probabilities provided 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 quite 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 thus lengthy, coupled with the truth that Thune not too long ago expressed confidence in him becoming a member of the president-elect’s Cupboard, is yet one more reminder that Trump’s forthcoming administration can be a catastrophe.
That’s as a result of, sure, it’s extremely harmful for each our army and our nation {that a} man who repeatedly criticized insurance policies permitting homosexual individuals to serve brazenly within the U.S. army and who has abused and exploited ladies might need sufficient assist to guide the troops below 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.
