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First got here the uncooked shock of the nomination. A weekend host of a Fox News morning present to steer the Department of Defense, the biggest employer within the United States? Really?
Then got here a reminder that Pete Hegseth doesn’t assume ladies needs to be in fight roles. And then a nudge to recall that the previous National Guardsman thinks variety and inclusion applications on the Pentagon spawn “wokeness” within the ranks. Then there have been the tales about his previous advocacy for individuals accused of conflict crimes regardless of opposition from these main the Department of Defense on the time. And then the tales about his unit’s alleged involvement with conflict crimes. And his anti-Muslim rhetoric. And perhaps a white-Christian-nationalism tattoo. And a flag based mostly on that tattoo to his higher-ups within the navy that he may very well be an “insider menace” who shouldn’t be let close to high-pressure environments.
Fine, mentioned the crew down at Mar-a-Lago, the de facto White House-in-waiting. Republicans near the incoming Donald Trump Administration say the crew heading again to Washington knew all of this earlier than they nominated Hegseth as their choose to develop into the subsequent Secretary of Defense and sixth in line for the presidency itself. Republicans within the Senate held regular, even when behind closed doorways there was a sinking feeling that they had been on a well-recognized rollercoaster.
But what caught the Trump crew without warning had been the tales that got here subsequent. Hegseth is alleged to have sexually assaulted a lady at a Republican ladies’s convention in California. There is a police report. And there’s a hush-money settlement. (Hegseth has denied the assault allegations, arguing the encounter was consensual, and noting the police didn’t cost him. He additionally has stood by each his political stances and the tattoo, which Hegseth mentioned disqualified him from guarding President Joe Biden’s Inauguration regardless of being “only a Christian image.”)
Each story got here out in current days earlier than experiences surfaced that his personal mom despatched him a poison-pen electronic mail accusing him of being a serial abuser of ladies and one thing of a cad. And then there was the one about him as a foul steward of cash raised by the highly effective Koch community, a sexist bully, and a drunkard on the job who received canned. And the one which mentioned he billed his spouse’s bank card for resort hookup venues. And the one which claimed his former Fox colleagues nervous about his alcohol consumption.
All of which might in all probability block some other incoming administration’s choose for a receptionist—not to mention a Secretary of Defense—from creeping ahead. But that is Trump, and he likes to impress. His prime aides doubled-down on Tuesday regardless of some grumbling that this mightn’t be one of the best use of their political capital.
But right here’s the factor about Trump: he’s loyal till he isn’t. Late Tuesday afternoon, it grew to become clear the nomination was going wobbly in a giant method. Hegseth can afford to lose three Republican Senators, and it appears to be like like there could also be just a few extra doubters than that. While loads of lawmakers have taken the pro-Trump line, some like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are signaling a “tough” path forward. Sen. Joni Ernst, a retired Army Reservist from Iowa who serves on the Armed Services Committee, says she plans a “frank” dialog with Hegseth. The Chairman of that committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, mentioned Hegseth must reply questions from his panel if he’s going to climate the drip of unfavorable tales. Some Republicans who’ve been inconsistent allies to Trump might break the nomination; many are watching Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Others are bracing for a whistleblower report and audit from Hegseth’s time working the Koch-backed veterans’ group.
Privately, Hill staffers are watching the nomination intently and with little certainty. Even as Trump’s crew projected confidence, GOP management aides are more and more skeptical. At least a half-dozen Republican Senators are seen as in play, in response to three Hill aides.
This wouldn’t be Trump’s first Cabinet choose to go down. Trump actually favored the thought of former Rep. Matt Gaetz to run the Department of Justice till it grew to become clear he was going to be an excessive amount of of a headache. The drip of unhealthy information about Gaetz’s alleged sexual encounters with minors, drug use, and extra—plus its dominance within the new cycle—proved an excessive amount of for the President-elect. Trump can stand by somebody so long as it doesn’t make him seem silly; unhealthy information is ok so long as it’s not new information to Number One. Crowding Trump off the entrance web page is a fireable offense.
Gaetz’s downfall was the quickest exit of a Cabinet nomination in historical past so near Election Day, rivaling an analogous eight-day window that George W. Bush’s choose at Labor noticed in 2000.
So far, Republicans who will management the affirmation—or not—of Trump’s Cabinet picks have largely held the road on Hegseth in a method they didn’t for Gaetz. But there are adequate grumblings about transferring ahead with somebody who has by no means earlier than run one thing even akin to the Pentagon to place the nomination doubtful. Senate Republicans concern Trump and his followers, however additionally they must take a detailed eye on the person who may have Trump’s ear on main navy motion. There is a fantastic line between messy and untenable; Trump is testing it with Hegseth.
Democrats have, up to now, stepped apart and allowed Republicans to make hassle themselves. A favourite gif on the Hill because the nominations began has been some variation of somebody watching with fascination as they toss popcorn of their mouths. Although Democrats gained’t have a veto over Trump’s picks, they’re additionally not sure that they’re all going to get by. The chaos has already claimed Gaetz, and it, would possibly quickly be a destiny shared by Hegseth and even Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choose because the nation’s prime spy grasp. Another choose elevating eyebrows is Kash Patel, a former Hill hand who rose to develop into the Pentagon’s prime aide throughout the first Trump time period and is on deck to go the FBI. And in fact there’s anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to go the Department of Health and Human Services.
For now, Trump’s crew is telling allies to carry regular on the remainder of the slate. Hegseth is on his model of a appeal offensive with Hill places of work, and most of the Republicans up there are signaling their fealty. “My place is what President Trump decides to do is what I’ll assist,” Sen. Mike Crapo mentioned when requested in regards to the nominees going ahead with out a lot as an FBI background verify. (Since Crapo, an Idaho Republican, mentioned this, the Trump marketing campaign introduced it might work with the feds on such vetting.)
And it’s value remembering that for each second of suspense when somebody like Collins or Murkowski appears to balk at one in all Trump’s strikes, they had been nonetheless extra more likely to aspect with Trump than not. Yet regardless of Trump’s sturdy assist among the many Senate’s rank and file, Hegseth nonetheless could be in hassle. Tuesday’s newest—that Hegseth billed inns to his then-wife’s bank card whereas finishing up 5 affairs—additional loosens his maintain on the nomination. Trump likes to throw a shock at his viewers. He doesn’t prefer it the opposite method. Which might clarify why a few of his allies on the Capitol aren’t actually investing their time getting ready for Hegseth’s potential nomination listening to. Given simply how messy the introduced choose has been thus far, that may very well be a waste of time. Washington is simply looking ahead to Trump to tire of this and transfer on to a distinct choose. Welcome to the Waiting Game, Trump’s Version.
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