The second Trump administration is taking shape. But they’re already dropping bodies.
And Donald Trump is bracing for Congress to give him terrible news.
Donald Trump learned a lot from his first term in office. He’s not afraid to admit that he made mistakes during that first term, even addressing some of those mistakes in several interviews he gave during the campaign for President this past cycle. A major one was failing to put the right people in the right positions.
Trump confessed to Joe Rogan that he really wasn’t entirely sure what to do when he actually made it into office in 2016, because there’s no playbook. There’s no rulebook of instructions for the U.S. President to follow, which makes it even more difficult for an outsider like Donald Trump to get an administration off the ground.
So he selected individuals who were wrong for the job. He doesn’t want to make the same mistake this time around. As such, he’s picking individuals who his base and closest advisors will be more happy with as opposed to the Washington, D.C. bureaucratic class. The downside of this is that the political class is waging a war against every one of Donald Trump’s important nominees.
Already, Matt Gaetz had to drop out of consideration for U.S. Attorney General, though Donald Trump made an excellent pick in Pam Bondi to replace him. He may be forced to replace another high-profile pick soon, this one concerning the position of the Secretary of Defense.
Trump’s Sec Def Likely Being Forced To Drop Out Soon
The political establishment in Washington is clearly doing everything it can to prevent any meaningful change from being introduced into the federal government. This is evident in the growing skepticism surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. The veteran and former Fox News host was announced as the nominee on November 12, but his confirmation now seems highly unlikely.
CNN’s senior data reporter, Harry Enten, made it clear on Wednesday that the chances of Hegseth being confirmed are slim to none. On CNN News Central, Enten pointed out that, according to the betting markets, Hegseth’s odds have dramatically dropped, signaling how unlikely his confirmation is. “Oh my. Chance that Pete Hegseth is confirmed as the defense secretary. You look, three weeks ago … He had an 83% chance, per the betting markets, tumbling down, a drop of more than 70 percentage points,” Enten said. “Holy toledo, 12% now. I mean, Matt Gaetz, when he steps aside, still had more than a 30% chance of becoming the next attorney general. This is just at 12%.”
This drastic drop in his chances is seen by Enten as a clear signal that it would take nothing short of a miracle for Hegseth to make it through the Senate confirmation process. “This is the type of odds when you really think that it would take a minor miracle, a mini Hail Mary to, in fact, be confirmed by the United States Senate,” Enten continued. “The bottom line is this: The bettors are very down on Pete Hegseth. You could do it in any language you want to do it, you could do ‘oy, no bueno, no good,’ this 12%. Could it happen? Yeah, maybe. But chances are this dude is not going to get confirmed as the next defense secretary.”
Hegseth’s confirmation process has been complicated by personal controversy, particularly regarding allegations of mistreating women. These allegations were highlighted when Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, sent an email in April 2018, during his divorce, accusing her son of mistreating and belittling women to boost his own ego. However, Penelope Hegseth sought to clarify the situation on Fox & Friends this Wednesday, defending her son’s character. She explained that the email was written “in haste” and stated that she regretted the way it had been portrayed in the media.
“I am here to tell the truth, to tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to the senators on Capitol Hill, especially our female senators,” Hegseth’s mother said. “I really hope that you will not listen to the media and that you will listen to Pete … Let’s go back 7 years, which, if we all went back 7 years, we would see that we are not the people that we are today.”
Penelope Hegseth acknowledged that the situation at the time of the email was emotionally charged due to Pete’s difficult divorce. “But they were going through, Pete and his wife at the time, were going through a very difficult divorce. It was a very emotional time, and I’m sure many of you across the country understand how difficult divorce is on a family,” she added. “There’s emotions, we say things, and I wrote that in haste, I wrote that with deep emotions, I wrote that as a parent.”
Despite the personal defense from his mother, it appears that the political forces working within Washington’s establishment are set on ensuring that Hegseth, or anyone with outsider credentials, does not break through the system.
The idea that this particular outsider could bring about genuine change to the defense establishment seems increasingly unlikely as the odds of his confirmation continue to plummet. The political class, for all their talk of reform, seem intent on preserving the status quo, even if it means sidelining those who truly challenge the system.
Donald Trump may be able to replace Pete Hegseth with someone who is both a fierce ally but also more easily stomach-able for the Washington, D.C. brass. Many Americans find it ridiculous that Congress is so politically divided now that simple nominations have become hot political fights, but it will take many more years of outsider movements like that of Trump’s for this to change.
The Conservative Column will bring you any updates regarding Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Secretary of Defense.
