President-elect Donald Trump had a very successful first week in Washington before taking office. His most controversial nominees also performed well in Senate hearings, setting the stage for quick confirmation rounds. But before the hearing was held, the groundwork had been laid.
The man behind it was Matt Gaetz, a former congressman and current host of One America News. His nomination for attorney general, first announced on Nov. 13 and withdrawn just eight days later, changed Overton's slot to one that would be acceptable as a political nomination and provided a path for his successor. was held.
It's still a long battle, but if this past week has given us any clues, it means the designated team is well prepared.
Gaetz was already notorious in Washington circles (and beyond) for rumors of sexual indiscretions and drug use. More than that, he angered Washington politicians by being unpredictable, often populist, and always loud, culminating in the political assassination of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Meanwhile, these same stances have made him a darling of the MAGA base.
Gaetz's swift (and needless) resignation from Congress in pursuit of the nomination spared him from criticism from lawmakers who were about to release a report on his alleged misconduct. Everything was going according to plan, but the Senate is a strange place, and there was no way senators would approve Gates to run the Justice Department. The transition team had to accept this reality after the depths of the opposition were exposed at Gaetz's meeting on Capitol Hill.
Very nice! Trump shows he's reasonable and willing to compromise with them, Senate Republicans shine their scalps to feel they're in charge, and Gaetz returns to Florida as a martyr to the MAGA swamp. It happened.
On the same day that President Trump nominated Gaetz, he nominated Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran of the war on terror, to be Pentagon secretary. Hegseth has a history of indiscretions, as evidenced by his two previous marriages that ultimately collapsed due to his infidelity. But when Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) came forward to lead Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) attack on Hegseth, she said she was not alone with Trump allies in power or on social media. It was met with united opposition from “Sorry, Republicans, but you've already got your scalp hurt. Why don't you treat President Trump's nominee the same way you treated President Joe Biden's disastrous nominee?”
She folded quickly and put on a quick show. Tweet She spoke of her varying allegiances to the president's agenda and promised to give Hegseth a brief hearing.
Three confirmation hearings were scheduled for Tuesday, but two were delayed due to a series of paperwork errors, and Hegseth ended up sitting alone in the audience. This was a good thing for Democrats, who were focused on both his position and his past.
Hegseth was well coached and well prepared. In his opening remarks, he dedicated his nomination to God and laid out a compelling vision for a muscular, warrior-first Pentagon purged of woke ideology. He took responsibility for his past failures, thanked Christ for his difficult path to becoming a happy and faithful family man, and contested the policy positions of the Democratic Party.
Democrats were really unprepared. It was an incredible show of undisciplined, screeching viciousness. (Not to mention the hysterical sarcasm of a senator preaching about temperance and marital fidelity.) The hearing was a success, Ernst's vote was publicly secured, and the path to confirmation now appears clear. .
From there it was smooth sailing. Democrats primarily feared a personal attack on Pam Bondi, the nominee to replace Gates as attorney general. Instead, they used her hearings to go after FBI nominee Kash Patel and Trump himself, while Bondi spoke eloquently about investigating and ending the Justice Department's political prosecutions.
Office of Management and Budget candidate Russ Vought has done an admirable and professional job, but next week's second hearing could be a tough one. His fellow candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was not particularly tortured, and the other candidates barely made it into the news.
The play was decided, the blitzkrieg began, and the plan worked. Democrats' chances to start the week with a stumble from Republicans were ruined. Master class.
Of course, there are more battles ahead. We haven't gotten to Patel's hearing yet (although we did get a preview of the attack at Bondi's). And we're waiting to hear from Robert Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services, and former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), the Director of National Intelligence.
Patel is a savvy politician and is well qualified for the job of FBI Director. Barring any unexpected setbacks, he should survive. Kennedy would do the same if he pledged to support the president's pro-life stance. (His views on vaccinations and making America healthy again do not threaten the policies of Republican senators.)
Gabbard is the one to watch out for danger. Neoconservatism is alive and well in professional Washington (former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won her only primary) and its stronghold is in the Republican Senate. Ms. Gabbard will have to rely heavily (and carefully) on the president's foreign policy preferences to persuade neoconservatives not to threaten their projects. It's still a long battle, but if this past week has given us any clues, it means the designated team is well prepared.
A quick Beltway flashback: Mitch McConnell's secret war against Trump
audience: Hegseth in a (surprisingly confused and convulsive) hornet's nest
Unhardened: Democrats failed the Pete Hegseth test.
Blaze News: Majority of Democrats vote against bill to deport illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes
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fire rises
compact: ruin of britain
What is the cause of Britain's moral and spiritual rot? Are we unwilling to address the obvious problems that plague our people, or even give them a fair hearing? The answer lies not in the civic-liberal values the country boasts, but in the multiculturalism that actually governs the country. Nathan Pinkowski writes:
After the war, British elites launched a large-scale multicultural experiment, seeking to prove that the system was compatible with Britain's cherished liberal traditions. This gave rise to modern British exceptionalism, the belief that Britain's fusion of liberalism and multiculturalism uniquely solved the problem of building a multi-ethnic nation. Unlike Canada, British multiculturalism did not have to take into account separatist movements. Far-right anti-immigration parties similar to France's National Front did not flood Westminster. And while Britain passed American-style anti-discrimination laws, it avoided the political debate over race in American politics. British elites worked hard to achieve this and succeeded in alienating anti-immigration politicians like Enoch Powell. British elites have long prided themselves on keeping the sensitive issue of race out of partisan politics.
But in recent years, elites have admitted that this multicultural and liberal fusion is on the defensive. Multiculturalism and liberalism are compatible only insofar as minority groups adhere to liberal values, which clearly is not the case for major minority groups within the UK. This is why politicians now regularly advocate for stronger civic nationalism. Concerns about integration failure abound. Domestic Islamic terrorism has become a problem. Politicians want to be seen as addressing these issues and reassure voters that they still live in a liberal state.
But grooming gang scandals are receiving new attention This has finally forced legacy media to grapple with its enormity, but all the glorification of civic liberal nationalism comes across as empty chatter. Multiculturalism, not liberalism, governs Britain…
Unhardened: Are the perpetrators of grooming gangs really from the “peasant” community?
