On November 13, Trump accepted the invitation of President Biden and met the president at the White House. Traditionally, that would not have been a big deal. However, it did not happen four years ago because Trump refused to meet with Biden. At that time, and to this day, Trump has refused to admit he lost the 2020 election. In contrast, despite Trump not meeting with him in 2016, when Trump won, Biden met with him even though Biden’s vice president lost. There was little opposition to the meeting in Democrat Party circles. That is how adults act. Melania Trump did not accept First Lady Jill Biden’s invitation to meet at the White House at the same time. It just proves that Donald and Melania have one thing in common: They engage in boorish behavior.
As symbolic as that meeting was, a more important event happened the same day when John Thune was selected by his fellow Republican senators as Majority Leader, beating two others, including Rick Scott, the favorite of Elon Musk and the MAGA crowd.
Thune is an institutionalist. One of the most important functions of the Senate is to vote on the president’s nominations for cabinet positions. There has always been a tension between allowing the president to pick his own team and the Senate’s role in making sure that only qualified people are appointed for the most important positions in the Executive branch.
Most of Trump’s picks are not an issue. Some have policies that many people may disagree with, such as nominating Chris Wright, who is head of an energy company, for Secretary Of Energy. However, they have experience and policy positions that are not beyond the pale. Also, the appointment has less effect on everyday life than the gang of four that Trump has nominated that’s caused the greatest reaction. This consists of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary Of Health And Human Services, Pete Hegseth for Secretary Of Defense, and Tulsi Gabbard for Director Of National Intelligence. There has been a lot said about the lack of qualifications of Gaetz and Kennedy, Jr. To a lesser extent, there have been complaints about Hegseth. The person who has gotten the least number of comments is Gabbard, who will be my main focus.
You just need to compare Matt Gaetz to the last three attorney generals to see how unqualified he is. Merrick Garland was a circuit court judge and a nominee to the US Supreme Court; Jeff Sessions was a long-time senator who had been state attorney general and a United States attorney, and William Barr had previously been the Attorney General in the Bush administration. This is not even considering the investigation by the House of Representatives Ethics Committee. Although the vote will not happen for at least two months, Gaetz, unlike the other members in Congress who were nominated for positions in the Trump administration such as Elise Stefanik, decided to immediately resign from the House. I am sure it was mere coincidence that it was two days before a committee of the House of Representatives was going to release a report as to his misconduct involving underage girls. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, is now trying to bury the report, which I doubt will work.
Imagine if Robert Kennedy Jr., the antivaxxer, had been the Secretary Of Health And Human Services during the height of the Covid pandemic. Do you think the Trump administration would have put money in operation warp speed to find a vaccine? There would have been many more deaths and serious health problems.
Pete Hegseth, who is now on Fox and Friends on the weekend, may have served in combat, but compare him to the Secretary Of Defense in the Biden and prior Trump administrations. There was General Lloyd Austin, a 41-year veteran who was the commander of US forces in Iraq, General James Mattis, a four-star general, and Mark Esper, who had been Secretary Of The Army.
Finally, there is Tulsi Gabbard. Anyone who supports Israel should be afraid of her having power. The position of Director Of National Intelligence oversees the various intelligence agencies. It is bad enough that she lacks experience, but what she has done and said in the past should be grounds to reject her.
In 2017, Gabbard secretly traveled to Syria and met with Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad and later refused to denounce him. This was after Al-Assad used chemical weapons. When Trump ordered the killing of the Iranian General Soleimani, she objected stating it was an “illegal and unconstitutional act of war.”
Gabbard is also a favorite of Russia. She has parroted Russian talking points for invading Ukraine, such as the existence of U.S.-funded labs in Ukraine and Ukraine trying to join NATO. During the 2016 primary, she received the most favorable coverage of any Democratic Party candidate for president in Russia media and still receives favorable coverage. There is a joke going around that if she is confirmed, Putin would receive the daily briefing before Trump does.
Gabbard is a strong isolationist who does not want America to get involved in any foreign wars. One of the foreign wars that America is involved with is the fight between Israel and Iran through its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. It may be good for Israel that Mike Huckabee will be the Ambassador to Israel and Elaine Stefanik may be the UN Ambassador. They may have a more public profile, but Tulsi would have the power.
It is up to Thune and the other senators to stand up to Trump’s disastrous picks and vote them down. Do not let Trump put them in through recess appointments. It will not be easy, but if Thune and his fellow Senators believe in the institution, then they need to stand up. If I want to predict, I would say that all of Trump’s nominations will be confirmed except for Gaetz and Kennedy. Let us hope they go even further and reject other unqualified picks such as Gabbard and Hegseth.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
