Gaetz, RFK Jr., Hegseth: Trump Hires Are About Showing GOP Who's Boss
By: Asawin Suebsaeng,Andrew Perez (Rolling Stone)
strap on your knee pads and kneel before your lord and savior maga ...
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Donald Trump has nominated a roster of highly controversial, and in some cases scandal-plagued, MAGA chaos agents to serve in his Cabinet — and is planning to force them through the U.S. Senate, a chamber in which the incoming president will enjoy a new conservative majority. However, when it comes to some of Trump's picks so far — including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Matt Gaetz for attorney general, and Fox & Friends co-host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary — a number of Senate Republicans are privately hyperventilating about their party's leader (once again) causing unnecessary melodrama and disorder at the dawn of his administration.
Mere minutes after Gaetz's selection was announced, one GOP senator close to Trump simply told Rolling Stone: "Our president is doing his best to give me a stroke." That was before Trump selected vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Conservatives on Capitol Hill are scrambling to figure out how, exactly, they would clear the way for several of his nominees — some of whom have track records that would have been immediately disqualifying in a different era. Gaetz, for instance, was literally investigated by the Justice Department, the agency he is now set to lead, over sex trafficking allegations.
But this is a new day: It's the second Trump administration, one premised on the idea that the twice-impeached former (and now future) leader of the free world has a mandate to impose his openly authoritarian, bloodthirsty, and revenge-focused vision on America. The ideological undergirding of the project is that Trump, in all the ways, deserves the opportunity to do whatever the hell he wants.
And according to associates and transition personnel who have spoken to Trump about some of his recent picks, that is precisely the point of his extreme selections.
It's not just that Trump wants these people in positions of enormous power and influence; it's that Trump, as he's privately remarked, wants to quash any sliver of opposition within his own party even before he's sworn in. And that starts with his ongoing efforts to force squeamish Senate Republicans to go along with his nominees, whether they like it or not.
"He wants to bend them to his will until they snap in half and then thank him for the privilege," says one Trump transition team member, who has discussed the matter of appointments with the president-elect.
Another person with direct knowledge of the situation says that Trump said within the past week that "we'll see who's loyal and who's not so loyal," referring to which GOP senators try to stand in the way of — or even object to — some of his nominees to the highest and most consequential ranks of the federal government. Trump, this source adds, mentioned it was important to keep track of who is with him, full-stop, on these nominations, and who sounds like a squish when pressed by reporters.
Republicans will have a 53-47 majority in the Senate next year — and Vice President J.D. Vance set to break any ties — so there will be some margin for error when it comes to confirming Trump's nominees. Even so, Trump has demanded that Republicans adjourn the Senate so he can make "recess appointments." That would allow Trump to appoint controversial officials to his Cabinet for two years at a time, without senators performing their duty to provide the president with "advice and consent."
For years, the Senate has held "pro forma" sessions to block presidents from making block recess appointments when Congress is out of session, i.e. on vacation, which happens often. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated he's open to changing that for Trump. "We must act quickly and decisively to get the president's nominees in place as soon as possible, [and] all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments," Thune posted on Sunday. A few days later, on Thursday, Thune did not specifically commit to allowing recess appointments.
While Republican senators have largely offered positive thoughts about Trump's nominees so far in public, the Gaetz nomination could represent an early test of the president-elect's stranglehold on the Senate GOP. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have already expressed reservations about Gaetz's selection, and The Wall Street Journalreported Thursday that Senate Republicans expect his nomination to fail, and it might not be close.
Gaetz officially resigned his Florida congressional seat on Wednesday, just two days before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on whether to release an investigative report into allegations that the congressman had engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and corruption. Given his nomination, Republican lawmakers are now facing pressure to release the report. The ethics committee reportedly canceled its planned meeting Friday over whether to make the Gaetz report public.
"In many cases, conservatives were excited by the initial national security picks, but I think the picks over the past couple days are big blunders, in part because at the end of the day, if Matt Gaetz thinks this somehow gets him out of his report that's due on Friday, all it does is expose him to senators digging into all these allegations, and then potentially make it so alleged victims come testify," says, Marc Short, the Trump White House's former legislative affairs director and then chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. "The Senate is not going to recess if they think Matt Gaetz is going to get appointed; they're going to stay in a pro forma session. So I think this has been counterproductive to Donald Trump's goals."
But as Trump insiders say, Trump intends to force through his nominees, whether Republican senators support them or not.
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nominating gaetz the child sex trafficker for AG is definitely an outreach to strengthen the trump administration's bond with xtian nationalists that already have the market cornered on biblically justified incest and pedophilia ...
Let the Strong-arming begin...
As I've pointed out before. The irony of have an adjudged rapist hiring a pedophile is unimaginable as the highest level law enforcement supervisor is beyond belief.
trump has elevated basic cronyism to criminal cronyism ...
If more than a handful of gop senators had stood up to Trump when he was twice impeached he would not have been eligible to run again...
Do not expect many more of them to have grown spines since then.
[✘]
We have a full blown circus with all the necessary clowns.
Has anyone seen this?
Watch as Trump's new Defence Secretary pick hits drummer with axe on TV
13 November 2024, 08:18
By Kit Heren
Donald Trump's new Defence Secretary pick hit a drummer with an axe on live television in a former life as a TV presenter.
Footage shows the axe hitting Prosperie, before he staggers away.
He appeared not to be too badly hurt at the time, but three years later he sued Fox over injuries he said he suffered.
Mr Prosperie alleged that "Mr Hegseth negligently attempted to throw an axe at a target" and that he "negligently placed in an area” that put him “in the path of peril.”
The company said: "The incident involving Jeff Prosperie from 2015 was unfortunate and completely unintentional. FOX News immediately apologized to Prosperie and offered medical assistance, which he declined saying he was ‘okay.’
“The network also offered compensation, which he declined as well. We have not heard from Prosperie".
Mr Trump nominating Mr Hegseth was a shock to many, given his lack of experience in the role.
The conservative broadcaster was previously a National Guard officer and gained military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He joined Fox and Friends ten years ago, and is said to have struck up a friendship with Mr Trump in this role.
Announcing the pick, Mr Trump said: "I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as the Secretary of Defense. Pete has spent his entire life as a warrior for the troops, and for the country.
"Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First.”
His appointment has met with disbelief in some quarters, including from some supporters.
Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of Independent Veterans of America, praised Mr Hegseth and said he thought "Trump would pick probably pick him for Chief of Staff or Press Secretary."
But he added: "Hegseth is undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for SecDef in American history. And the most overtly political."
Among Mr Trump's other picks is Elon Musk, who has been appointed to cut down on government waste.
Hegseth is a bros bro. That goes a long way in MAGA America. There is a video of him selling American made AK47 ammunition on the fourth of July.
One of those toxic macho bros bro
Selling survivalist shit and soap shaped like hand grenades
Add Larry Kudlow to the list.
Of course, these people are not expected to actually do anything. They will have "assistants" from the Heritage Foundation who will take care of business.
I'm seeing a pattern of trump appointees that should be registering with the DC police dept for past sex crimes ...
Which should include the former 'president' traitor
Unfortunately I expect the spineless GOP (those who have hijacked the party) to submit to Trump. That is simply a linear projection of what we have observed during his campaign.