Trump's Cabinet Picks Face Roadblocks Ahead

Yahoo

31-01-2025

From the The Morning Dispatch on The Dispatch
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Officials announced Thursday that there were no survivors from the collision of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet approaching D.C.'s Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. A total of 67 people were killed, making it the deadliest crash in America since 2001. The D.C. fire and EMS chief said Thursday morning that rescue operations were switching to a recovery effort to retrieve the victims, and, as of 5:30 p.m. ET, first responders had pulled 40 bodies from the Potomac River. An investigation into the crash remains ongoing and there are no confirmed details as to the causes of the incident. Multiple outlets obtained copies of a preliminary internal Federal Aviation Administration report on the accident that said staffing at the airport's air traffic control tower during the time of the collision was 'not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.' One air traffic controller was working both with helicopters and planes, a job typically split between two people.
Eight more hostages returned to Israel on Thursday after 482 days in Hamas captivity. The individuals released included three Israelis—Agam Berger, Arbel Yehoud, and Gadi Mozes—and five Thai nationals—Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak—who were abducted by the terrorist group on October 7, 2023. Before Yehoud and Mozes were handed over to the Red Cross, Hamas gunmen paraded them through swarming and chaotic crowds in the southern city of Khan Younis, leading the Israeli government to delay the latest release of Palestinian prisoners. Israel later freed 110 prisoners on Thursday after the two sides reached an agreement to ensure the safe passage of Israeli abductees in future exchanges.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Thursday to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's planned $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Enterprises, a wireless local area network (WLAN) products and services company. The department said the tie-up would bring 70 percent of the WLAN suppliers market under the control of just two companies, the Hewlett and Juniper umbrella and the market leader, Cisco Systems. 'This proposed merger would significantly reduce competition and weaken innovation, resulting in large segments of the American economy paying more for less from wireless technology providers,' said Omeed Assefi, the acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to follow through on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico beginning on Saturday, February 1st. But the president told reporters that the tariffs could include exemptions on oil imports, in keeping with his promises to reduce energy costs for Americans. Trump has also indicated possible plans to impose a 10 percent duty on Chinese-made goods as soon as Saturday—a move, like the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, ostensibly aimed at curbing the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—President Trump's picks to lead the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Health and Human Services, respectively—all appeared before Senate committees for confirmation hearings on Thursday. The trio faced grillings from Democratic and some Republican lawmakers on their past statements, and, in some instances, endeavored to distance themselves from views and policies they've endorsed in the past. While Patel appeared to have garnered unified Republican support in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gabbard and Kennedy still face uphill battles in advancing beyond their respective committee votes.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday that real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, down from 3.1 percent growth in the third quarter and slightly below economists' expectations. For all of 2024, GDP growth was 2.8 percent. The bulk of fourth-quarter growth came from consumer spending, with spending on goods and services growing 6.6 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, both up from the third quarter.
'Bobby! Bobby!' Supporters decked out in MAHA ('Make America Healthy Again') pins and hats chanted this as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's nominee for health secretary, entered a packed room for his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
But the enthusiasm of his cheerleaders belied the uphill battle Kennedy now faces in advancing beyond a committee vote and, if he gets there, winning enough support in the full Senate. Senators also grilled Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel—Trump's nominees for director of national intelligence and FBI director, respectively—this week, signaling the first serious congressional pushback against the president's picks after his first batch of Cabinet nominees sailed through the Senate with relative ease.
As expected, Democrats questioned Kennedy—who appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Health Committee on Thursday—on his previous advocacy against vaccinations, stance on abortion, and qualifications to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Republicans, meanwhile, appeared eager to get through the hearing as quickly as possible.
Of the three M.D.s on the Senate Finance Committee, all Republicans, only one seemed to be particularly skeptical of Kennedy: Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who practiced as a gastroenterologist for more than two decades and has been a public critic of the nominee. 'Some of the things he said were just not true. For example, for hepatitis B vaccines there's no safety trials. I have actually performed hepatitis B vaccination safety trials many years ago,' he told reporters Tuesday, after meeting with Kennedy privately.
Cassidy's lines of questioning generated perhaps the most damaging moment of Kennedy's first day of testimony. When the Republican senator probed the nominee on his knowledge of public healthcare financing, Kennedy failed to demonstrate an understanding of important differences between Medicare and Medicaid, and incorrectly stated that the federal government was Medicaid's sole funder. And Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, was even clearer about his concerns during the nominee's next hearing on Thursday, as John McCormack reports on the site today:
At the end of Thursday's hearing, Cassidy recounted the story of an 18-year-old woman he treated who had to be flown by helicopter for an emergency liver transplant due to a case of Hepatitis B, a disease easily prevented by a vaccine. Cassidy said if someone dies because she was 'not vaccinated because of policies or attitudes you bring to the department,' the 'greatest tragedy will be her death.'
An 'associated tragedy,' Cassidy continued, is that it 'will cast a shadow over President Trump's legacy, which I want to be the absolute best legacy it can be. So that's my dilemma, man, and you may be hearing from me over the weekend.'
Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democrat, narrowed in on Kennedy's financial interests. As part of his anti-vaccine campaigning, Kennedy has received fees from law firms suing drug manufacturers. Warren noted that as HHS Secretary, he would have many tools to influence future drug-related lawsuits and asked to commit to not suing drug companies 'while you are secretary and for four years after.' Kennedy refused: 'You're asking me to not sue drug companies, and I am not going to agree to that,' he said, to cheers from many in the audience.
With Democrats uniform in their opposition, a 'no' vote from Cassidy would block Kennedy from advancing out of the finance committee and make it extremely unlikely that he would get a vote on the Senate floor.
But at least three more GOP senators would need to flip to doom his nomination in a full Senate vote. Moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also expressed skepticism about Kennedy's views on Thursday. And Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, himself a polio survivor (the vaccine for which Kennedy has criticized), could be the final 'no' vote. 'I have never flinched from confronting specious disinformation that threatens the advance of lifesaving medical progress, and I will not today,' the former majority leader said last month.
The audience for Gabbard's hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee was notably more subdued than Kennedy's, mostly filled with reporters, Congressional staffers, and family members and friends of the nominee. Gabbard, however, was at least as defiant and almost as controversial as the health secretary pick.
Lawmakers entered the hearing with serious questions about Gabbard's views and qualifications. An eight-year Democratic congresswoman and a National Guard member for more than two decades, the Hawaiian-born Gabbard has no intelligence experience beyond a one-year stint on the House Committee on Homeland Security and two years on the House Armed Services Committee on Intelligence and Readiness.
She's also demonstrated some questionable political judgment, to say the least. Gabbard has praised whistleblower Edward Snowden and requested his pardon, made comments suggesting that the U.S. is to blame for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and cast doubt on whether recently ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people during the country's civil war—evidence of which is well-documented. In 2017, while serving as a member of Congress, Gabbard visited Syria on a diplomatic trip paid for by two Arab-American activists with ties to a Syrian nationalist party. Unbeknownst to her staffers, she also used the trip to set up and attend a three-hour meeting with Assad, only admitting to the sit-down after she returned to the U.S.
Given Republicans' narrow 9-8 majority in the committee, any one of these issues could sink Gabbard's candidacy. By TMD's count, the nominee was asked ten times—by Republicans and Democrats—if Edward Snowden was a traitor. She declined to answer yes or no, stating simply, 'I believe Edward Snowden broke the law.'
The topic is particularly resonant given Gabbard's access to highly sensitive information if confirmed, potentially creating Republican holdouts ahead of a narrow committee vote. 'It would befit you and be helpful to the way you are perceived by members of the intelligence community if you would at least acknowledge that the greatest whistleblower in American history, so-called, harmed American security,' GOP Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said during the hearing, visibly grimacing. 'I think there are a lot of questions after. Yeah,' GOP Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma told reporters when asked about Gabbard's answers on Snowden after the hearing.
Senators also pressed Gabbard on her recent flip-flop on section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a program that allows the FBI to query some Americans' emails. A vocal opponent of the program during her time in the House, Gabbard introduced a bill to repeal it in 2020. But on Thursday, she appeared to change her tune. 'My actions and legislation in Congress were done to draw attention to the egregious civil liberties violations that were occurring at that time,' she said, adding that later reforms had assuaged her concerns.
'Ms. Gabbard, what are the reforms that have led you to now support 702?,' Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee's top-ranking Democrat, asked Thursday. After Gabbard mentioned reforms passed last April, Warner noted that she had criticized them as making an 'already bad' problem 'many times worse' on Joe Rogan's podcast. 'I just don't believe, on your judgment and credibility issues, that this is the appropriate role you should take going forward,' he said.
Patel's hearing rounded out the contentious trio, but Democrats' fixation on highlighting their previous criticisms about the candidate may have undermined their efforts to derail his confirmation.
Despite his extensive resume—Patel has served as a former public defender and Justice Department attorney, a staffer for the House Intelligence Committee, a National Security Council official, and chief of staff to the defense secretary—the nominee is less known for his professional career than for his enthusiastic embrace of conspiracy theories about the 'deep state.' Widely described as the most loyal hanger-on in Trump's orbit, Patel has even authored a children's book about the plot against 'King Donald.'
If confirmed, lawmakers worry this conspiratorial mindset would cloud Patel's judgment as head of the FBI—an agency he seems to believe is complicit in alleged Democratic efforts to commandeer the federal government. The nominee has advocated for restricting the FBI's intelligence-gathering activities and threatened to 'come after' Trump's purported enemies within the media.
Democrats were, predictably, alarmed by Patel's nomination. But, as The Dispatch's Charles Hilu reported from the hearing, their rage was often channeled into scoring partisan points rather than eliciting truly damaging testimony from Patel:
Rather than putting Patel on the defensive, Democrats used much of their time during the five-hour hearing reciting incendiary comments Patel has made in the past and asking him to justify certain actions from Trump. They inflicted little damage, if any, on his confirmation prospects, likely missing the opportunity to deter enough Republicans from voting for him once his nomination reaches the full Senate.
At one point Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island lobbed several questions at Patel regarding social media posts and podcast appearances he had made. A Whitehouse staff member held up a poster that depicted Patel saying it was 'beyond a reasonable doubt' that members of federal law enforcement were involved in starting the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Patel called that characterization 'completely incorrect' and was about to respond to the charge, but Whitehouse would not let him.
'I'll give you the opportunity in writing, but this is my time now,' Whitehouse replied, sparing Patel from needing to defend the remark.
For now, it appears that Republican senators are more likely to expend political capital on opposing Kennedy and Gabbard than on putting up a fight over Patel's bid. Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, both senior members of the Judiciary Committee, signaled their support for Patel as early as last month.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina also backed Patel's confirmation in an introduction before the committee. 'In my 10 years in the Senate, I hope I have established a reputation for being fair, doing my homework, and taking tough positions that have been met with harsh criticism,' he said. 'Heck, I've been censured by my party for taking tough positions, and I stand by those positions today and my position to support Kash Patel.'
Patel, somewhat surprisingly, appears to be the exception in a week where Trump's top nominees at times struggled. Heading into committee votes, it appears quite possible that Gabbard and Kennedy will not receive committee recommendations—or at the very least face a tight vote on the Senate floor.
Writing for the New York Times, Alex Vadukul revisited the Luddite Club—a group of Brooklyn high schoolers he profiled in 2022 who formed a club dedicated to engaging with one another free from technology. With the original group now in college, Vadukul wanted to see how their Luddism has fared. 'Two years later, I'm still asked about them. People want to know: Did they stay on the Luddite path? Or were they dragged back into the tech abyss?' he wrote. 'I put those questions to three of the original members—Ms. Watling, Jameson Butler and Logan Lane, the club's founder–when they took some time from their winter school breaks to gather at one of their old hangouts, Central Library in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. They said they still had disdain for social media platforms and the way they ensnare young people, pushing them to create picture-perfect online identities that have little [to] do with their authentic selves. They said they still relied on flip phones and laptops, rather than smartphones, as their main concessions to an increasingly digital world. And they reported that their movement was growing, with offshoots at high schools and colleges in Seattle, West Palm Beach, Fla., Richmond, Va., South Bend, Ind., and Washington, D.C.'
President Donald Trump had the following exchange with a reporter during a briefing yesterday on the D.C. airport crash.
Reporter: Today, you have blamed the diversity element, but then told us you weren't sure the controllers made any mistake. You then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones that made the mistake.
Trump: Yeah, it's all under investigation.
Reporter: I understand that, that's why I'm trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion, right now, that diversity had something to do with this crash.
Trump: Because I have common sense.
Bloomberg: Romania's Far-Right Candidate [Calin Georgescu] Dismisses Ukraine as 'Invented'
Romania's far-right presidential frontrunner called Ukraine an 'invented state' that will be dismembered after losing the war with Russia–and proceeded to make territorial claims of his own.
…
Georgescu said Romania should seek to benefit from a peace settlement ending the war—and reclaim territories that were once part of Romania. He mentioned several traditional regions—northern Bukovina and Maramures, as well as Budjak—that are currently part of Ukraine. 'Everybody is interested' in border changes, Georgescu said. 'We are interested.'
New York Times: U.S. Funding Freeze Threatens Security at ISIS Camps in Syria
After a 34-year run involving more than 82,000 gallons of paint, the Blue Man Group will hold its final Off-Broadway performance on Sunday.
In the newsletters: Will Rinehart explored how AI development is moving faster than regulators and Nick Catoggio unpacked (🔒) the woes of trying to cover the second Trump term.
On the site: Mike Warren details the Trump administration's rift with Catholics, John McCormack reports on RFK Jr.'s tough road ahead, Charles Hilu considers Kash Patel's confirmation odds, and Kevin Williamson argues that you can't run government like a Silicon Valley startup.
Do you think any of the three nominees before the Senate this week are suited to the Cabinet positions?