There has been a lot of furor -- mainly from the dead legacy media -- over a number of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees since he started naming them several weeks ago. The person who has been in the crosshairs the most has been Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but the media is also doing their level best to lob character assassination bombs at DNI pick Tulsi Gabbard, Attorney General-in-waiting Pam Bondi, and many others.
The person the media might hate the most is, of course, Elon Musk, but he and Vivek Ramaswamy do not need Senate confirmation to begin the work of DOGE, so it's more difficult for the left to sabotage their planned mission to reduce the size of the federal government.
In the end, however, all of Trump's appointees are qualified for their positions and the bluster surrounding many of them may be a great deal of sound and fury signifying nothing. Republicans will hold a small majority in the Senate come January, so as long as most of those Senators do not weaken, there isn't much the left can do to stop Trump's appointments.
The good news is, according to Senator Tom Cotton, that is exactly what he expects to happen.
I expect our Republican Senate is going to confirm all of President Trump's nominees.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) December 9, 2024
Yesterday morning, along with this tweet, Cotton elaborated further on Fox and Friends with Brian Kilmeade:
BREAKING: Senator Tom Cotton says ALL of President Trump’s nominees will be confirmed. pic.twitter.com/dWAK4jFJQi
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 9, 2024
Almost all of Trump's picks have been applauded by the voters who elected him. There are very legitimate concerns on the right about two nominees, Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for Surgeon General, but Cotton seemed confident that Senators will vote for both of them as well, assuming Republicans cannot convince Trump to name better individuals for those positions.
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We, the voters, gave Trump a mandate.
— Misha Turtle Island TV: X Society Xperience 🐢🐰𝕏 (@MishaTurtleX) December 9, 2024
The Senate should not buck the will of the American people.
Conservatives have been worried recently about RINO Senators like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voting no on some of Trump's picks, but at least according to Cotton, Trump has the votes in the Senate for all of his nominees, including Hegseth.
One reason for that, though cynical, is very real.
Those voting against Trumps nominees set themselves up for defeat later.
— LFG America 🇺🇸 (@LHF1970) December 9, 2024
We saw this recently when Senator Joni Ernst came out with a potential objection to Hegseth. The wrath she received from voters and pundits on social media was so quick and fierce that Ernst seems to have backed down (and she still may get primaried for her trouble).
Boom!! Wishy-washy Senators like Joni Ernst saw the massive blowback they got from conservative X and decided they didn’t wanna be primaried. It’s a new world, RINOs! https://t.co/s7cSpOciJf
— Jay Pureblood (@Jayinvgenius) December 9, 2024
Of course, Cotton is just making a prediction here. An informed prediction, but still just a prediction. Many were skeptical about whether all GOP Senators would hold the line when the time comes to vote.
Senator Cotton's optimism is... refreshing. We'll see how that plays out.
— Deo (@deoofbract) December 9, 2024
The GOP has said a lot of things and done very little, I'll believe this when I see it!
— WaynerDog (@WaynerDog1) December 9, 2024
Some commented that this is how Democrats handle Presidential nominations and that Republicans should follow suit.
0.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 9, 2024
That’s how many Democrats voted against Biden’s cabinet. https://t.co/N4MqVSD6UI
Many Republicans voted to confirm Biden's nominees, no matter how bad they were. How many Democrats will vote to confirm Trump cabinet nominees? https://t.co/SYxmOdZHgM
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2024
Republicans cannot expect any Democrat support for Trump's most 'controversial' nominees, so it will be important that Republicans do not lose more than one or two votes.
But if they do confirm them all, the next two years could be tremendously significant in terms of what Trump promised during his first term: 'draining the swamp.'
If all Trump’s nominees get confirmed, 2025 is going to be the most impactful year of renovation and transformation this country has ever seen.
— Christian Patriot 🇺🇸 (@Blessed_Patriot) December 9, 2024
As for nominees like Chavez-DeRemer, there is still time for conservatives to convince Trump to reverse course on that pick. If she makes it all the way to a hearing, she will likely be confirmed as well because of the support she is bound to receive from Democrats for her sponsorship of the PRO Act.
Conservatives should -- and will -- continue to speak out about her. Cotton's comments do not mean he is saying that the Republican Senate will be a rubber stamp for all nominees. The important point he was making is that the left cannot derail these nominations as they did in Trump's first administration, where a number of his high-level nominees withdrew before and during that term.
They have tried to derail many like Hegseth and FBI Director pick Kash Patel. What Cotton was saying yesterday is that Trump's Cabinet and administration in his second term will be established by Republicans, not by the left and the media.
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