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President-elect Donald Trump fired the opening shot in the upcoming fight over confirmation of his cabinet nominees. Posting on his Truth Social platform earlier this week, Trump threw down the proverbial gauntlet.
“We just won a historic landslide and mandate from the American people, but Senate Democrats are organizing to improperly stall and delay the confirmation process of many of our great nominees,” Trump wrote. “They will try all sorts of tricks starting very soon. Republicans must not allow them to do that.”
Trump’s message concluded with an admonition to the GOP majority.
“We have a Country to run, and many big problems to solve, mostly created by Democrats,” he wrote. “REPUBLICANS, BE SMART AND TOUGH!!!”
The timing wasn’t coincidental. The U.S. Senate – recaptured by Republicans during the 2024 election – is scheduled to begin confirmation hearings next week for several proposed members of the incoming Trump administration. Which is where numbers — and Trump’s parting admonishment — both come into play.
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When the 119th U.S. Congress gavels into session tomorrow (January 3, 2025) Republicans will occupy 53 seats compared to 45 Democratic seats and two independents who caucus with the minority party. Theoretically, the GOP should be able to deliver the nominees Trump wants.
Theoretically.
Senate Democrats are reportedly putting the finishing touches on a divide-and-conquer strategy. They concede several Trump picks should sail through. Among them? U.S. senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state and congresswoman Elise Stefanik for United Nations ambassador – the same spot occupied by South Carolina’s own Nikki Haley during the first Trump administration.
So, the minority party is saving its gunpowder. It’s expected to focus its attacks on others who are seen as vulnerable. Topping that list is defense secretary-designate and Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth.
A pair of Democrat defectors closely follow him – former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (who is slated for national security advisor) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Trump’s health czar). Democrats are reportedly champing at the bit for a chance to take them down.
Can they? Although the GOP is in the majority in the upper chamber, all Democrats have to do to sink a nominee is keep their side of the aisle united and peel off four dissenting GOP moderates.
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A Senate rejection of a cabinet nominee – even one – would be a stinging blow to a famously thin-skinned president. It could also expose fault lines and fractures between the party’s MAGA and mainstream wings, divisions Democrats would doubtless seek to exploit in the year ahead.
While the president-elect is playing offense on messaging, his proposed team is being instructed to hold its fire.
Though Trump is well-known for “shooting from the lip,” he has ordered those who intend to serve him to take a different tack. Washington, D.C. is a city in which “anything you say can and will be used against you.” And Team Trump wants to make sure none of his nominees give his opposition anything to work with.
A story in The New York Post earlier this week noted incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, had sent a memo to all appointees instructing them to refrain from public comments and social media posts that weren’t cleared through the incoming White House counsel’s office.
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“Trump World is ordering its appointees to keep a low profile…”
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“While this instruction has been delivered previously, I am reiterating that no member of the incoming administration or Transition speaks for the United States or the President-elect himself,” Wiles wrote in a memo obtained by the Post. “Accordingly, all intended nominees should refrain from any public social media posts without prior approval of the incoming White House counsel.”
While battening down the hatches might help keep certain nominees from becoming politically radioactive in the short-term, they all have extensive records, interviews, and positions. And it’s safe to say Democratic Senate staffers spent the holiday season poring through mountains of material with fine-tooth combs.
Will their strategy succeed? We’ll find out when the confirmation of the more than 1,300 presidential appointees begins in earnest this month. But don’t expect a quick answer. The process now takes almost three times longer than it did during the Reagan presidency in the 1980s.
Judging by recent precedent, it won’t be concluded till next July…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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2 comments
MAGA mandate? Trump got less than 50% of the vote. Once again “we the people” made it clear we did not want Trump as President. So, where is the mandate? 49% of the people wanted Trump to round up Hispanics put them in concentration camps and kick out all the foreigners. Is that the mandate? Trump is now in favor of bringing in Asians to take American tech jobs and Hispanics to take American hotel and server jobs. Is that the mandate? How about letting an unelected migrant and anchor baby (who could lose his citizenship if Trump gets rid of birthright citizenship}, decide what programs Americans need and who to let into the country? Is that the mandate? Trump said he would end the Ukraine war before he took office. Is that the mandate? Russia said that ain’t happening.
I just can’t identify this mandate you and Trump speak of. Or the so-called landslide for that matter.
Hmmm 32 out of 50 states and 77 million votes seems pretty strong. Musk has been a US Citizen for over 20 years and Ramaswamys parents came here legally so both Elon and Vivek are Americans. If Ukraine has no money or weapons from the US the war will end rather abruptly. And yes all illegals including so called dreamers need to go back to their country of origin. If the dreamers want to return they need to do it the lawful way, anyone else who entered illegally should be barred from ever entering the US again.