Trump Must Draw Line in Sand, Rein in Fickle, Wavering GOP Senators - Now
The Trump administration has reached an inflection point before our nation's 47th president-elect has even been sworn into office?
Why do we say that?
Simple.
Self-important, personal agenda, comb-over conservatives in the U.S. Senate are working to defeat some of Trump’s most important nominees to cabinet posts.
They think they should be selecting Trump’s cabinet instead of Trump himself.
This situation is unthinkable on the Democratic side.
Those senators vote unanimously for whatever collection of verifiably anti-American miscreants or incompetents an incoming Democratic president wants in their cabinet.
And the really galling part of this process is Republicans join Democrats in approving these Democratic nominees.
Which brings us to our inflection point.
His name is Pete Hegseth.
Trump has already seen one of his disruptive nominees, Fmr. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., defeated by anonymous leakers, beyond questionable slanderers, and other swamp denizens who prefer to do their work in the shadows.
Now they intend to do the same to Hegseth, a one-time infantry leader and officer.
This is exactly where Trump must draw the line and tell Republican senators, who think they should have veto power over the president’s nominees, how the cow ate the cabbage.
Hegseth is the target of the usual left-adherent and swamp playbook.
He, like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, is accused of sexual assault.
The woman involved appears to be an adulterous wife who had second thoughts and claimed an assault took place.
Witnesses at the hotel tell a different story and the police closed their investigation after finding the allegation to be unfounded.
The second point of attack on Hegseth is financial mismanagement.
The usual collection of anonymous snitches claim he left a veteran’s foundation in disarray.
This isn’t true.
People who worked at the foundation and talk to reporters in public, with their names being public, deny that any of the allegations have merit.
Then we find another collection of hidden snitches at Fox News claiming he has a drinking problem. While the anchors who work with Hegseth go on public record declaring this too is a lie.
These falsehoods and smears only serve to give RINOs in the Senate cover for their hidden agendas, as they try to defeat Trump’s choices behind the scenes.
Hegseth knows the game and he intends to fight — and continue fighting.
The Washington Times reports, "Hegseth, a retired Army major, veterans’ advocate and former Fox News host, pledged Thursday that he was 'not going to back down' as he made the rounds on Capitol Hill for another day of interviews with senators."
The Times also agrees that Hegseth’s nomination is an inflection point,
"With his closest allies, the president elect is focusing on getting Mr. Hegseth confirmed or at least forcing senators to vote on his nomination to stop what could become a cascade of rejections of Mr. Trump’s antiestablishment picks."
Leading the opposition are two comb-overs readers of this column know well: Sen. Joni "News Release" Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey "Weathervane" Graham, R-S.C.
Ernst — who in divorce papers was accused of having an affair with a subordinate while she was deployed with the National Guard — is "casting doubt on confirming Mr. Hegseth because of reports of past misconduct. He was accused of sexual assault, infidelity in his first two marriages, financial mismanagement of veteran’s organizations he ran and excessive drinking around co-workers."
Each by anonymous, hidden sources. All debunked.
Graham is said to oppose Hegseth because "the nominee [really] would attempt to overhaul the Pentagon."
It’s time for Trump to have a meeting with these agenda betrayers and tell them that a vote against Hegseth’s confirmation is a declaration of war against his administration.
Both Graham and Ernst are up for re-election in 2026.
Trump needs to clearly tell them, and any other "No" votes, that he will make sure none of their nominees for government posts will be approved.
Additionally, that none of their legislative priorities for their home states will happen.
And . . . that they will be frozen out.
And when the primary comes, Trump will recruit and fund a viable primary opponent.
The year 2026 is ripe with RINOs who deserve defeat if they oppose Trump’s mandates.
Besides Sens. Ernst and Graham, there are Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
"Hegseth told reporters he has "done tough things in tough places." (Referring to his deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, where he served in combat.)
"And sometimes that changes you a little bit. And by the grace of God and my Lord and Savior, I had an opportunity to come on up out of it and do great things with great veterans organizations that fought for vets and fought for reform at the [Department of Veterans Affairs] and for warfighters, and at the Fox News Channel to advocate for those various causes."
It’s time for Trump to do "tough things in tough places."
Starting with Republican opposition in the Senate.
(A related story may be found here.)
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.