The Senate’s high Republican reportedly assured President-elect Donald Trump that his controversial decide for protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, has sufficient GOP help 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 should not have any hassle clearing the vote requirement wanted to turn out to be 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 stated the affirmation course of can 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.”
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 corresponding to Tulsi Gabbard for director of nationwide intelligence; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to steer the Division of Well being and Human Providers; and Kash Patel as Trump’s decide to be the following 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 in opposition to Hegseth. Whereas some Republicans have expressed full help for Trump’s Cupboard picks, others have stopped brief of issuing a public endorsement for his most controversial picks. In idea, 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, is based on the truth that Hegseth has buddies 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 in opposition to Hegseth. (Neither Musk nor Trump have commented publicly on whether or not Hegseth has sufficient Senate help.)
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 Every day Kos in December. And there’s nonetheless lots 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 stated that the encounter was consensual and he was not charged, he did pay the accuser an undisclosed quantity.
Past that, Hegseth is more likely to face a frenzy of uncomfortable questions on reviews of his extreme consuming. 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 like a superb place to remind voters—and possibly even Hegseth—that the previous Fox Information contributor promised to cease consuming alcohol if he’s confirmed to go the federal division charged with main the nation’s armed forces.)
Possibly Thune is extra optimistic towards Hegseth’s probabilities on condition that nobody appears to be speaking about Hegseth anymore. Not like 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 continued with it for therefore lengthy, coupled with the truth that Thune lately expressed confidence in him becoming a member of the president-elect’s Cupboard, is yet one more reminder that Trump’s forthcoming administration will probably 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 brazenly within the U.S. navy and who has abused and exploited girls may need sufficient help to steer 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.
