It is still early. We have not seen Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee for health and human services secretary, or Mehmet Oz, the pick for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, testify yet. But so far, from what we have seen, President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees look prepared, professional, unified, and, most importantly, eager to take on the corrupt establishment in Washington, D.C., to implement Trump’s agenda. Just as importantly, the Democratic senators questioning Trump’s nominees look tired, clueless, and out of touch.
Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth set the tone with his combative and unapologetic performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. When condescendingly asked by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) if he could identify “any example” of when he had driven innovation at “any organization,” Hegseth calmly talked about his time at Concerned Veterans for America, during which it created a bipartisan task force that was instrumental in passing both the VA Accountability Act and the Mission Act.
All poor Peters could manage in response was, “OK, great, thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. All right. OK.”
Hegseth then made the chamber erupt in laughter when, after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) asked why he wasn’t willing to make the same pledge he suggests all generals make, not to work for the defense industry for 10 years, Hegseth responded, “Because I’m not a general, senator.”
Then, when Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) pressed Hegseth on past infidelity after his daughter was born, Hegseth reminded the senator that his daughter has a name, “and she’s a child of God. She’s 7 years old, and I am glad she’s here.” Kaine’s line of questions was particularly hypocritical since Kaine had just recently spent so much time campaigning with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, a man who impregnated his nanny before divorcing his wife.
As strong as Hegseth’s performance was, he was outshone the next day by attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, particularly for her interactions with freshman Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA). After Schiff repeatedly asked inappropriate hypothetical questions about former Rep. Liz Cheney, Bondi shot back, “You’re all so worried about Liz Cheney, senator. You know what you should be worried about? The crime rate right now in California is through the roof. Your robberies are 87% higher than the national average. That is what I will be focused on, senator.”
Schiff, being the shameless hack he is, pressed further, suggesting a different hypothetical involving the 2020 election. Bondi, again, refused to play Schiff’s reindeer games, reminding the chamber that it was Schiff who broke House rules to leak his colleague’s memo on the FBI spying on the Trump campaign and was censured by Congress for his reckless behavior.
And she wasn’t done.
Later, when asked by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to identify any Department of Justice prosecutors who should be prosecuted, as Bondi has said in the past, Bondi happily complied, naming Kevin Clinesmith, the DOJ lawyer who falsified information, under oath, on a warrant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was never prosecuted, and got off with a slap on the wrist. Whitehouse was silenced.
Turning to the Treasury, when Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked if nominee Scott Bessent supported rolling back President Joe Biden’s clean energy subsidies, arguing, “We are in an arms race on clean energy with China,” Bessent set him straight. “China will build 100 new coal plants this year, senator. There is not a clean energy race. There is an energy race,” he said.
Most embarrassing of all for the Democrats has been the pathetic performance of Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who asks every nominee the same question, “Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Someone should tell the Democrats the #MeToo movement is over and that they need to move on.
Republicans in the Senate and the Trump transition should not get too confident. There are plenty of nominees still to go. But so far, the nominees who have performed have done so exceptionally well. The second Trump administration is already off to a much stronger start than the first.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
