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Wednesday, January 15
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As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in for a second term, many of his controversial cabinet picks will face the wrath of the U.S. Senate. Will they push back against some of the more controversial picks, like Pete Hegseth or Pam Bondi? We’ll see.
Also in this issue: How GOP infighting could derail a second MAGA term and some truly craven Republicans are using the LA fires to push their agenda.
As always, thanks for reading.
— Matt Cohen, Senior Staff Writer
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** Trump Appointment Confirmations Begin
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With Trump set to be sworn in for his second term on Monday, the Senate kicked off the confirmation hearings for some of his cabinet nominations. Most of his picks are, to put it lightly, controversial. So expect these hearings to be contentious. These hearings kicked off ([link removed]) Tuesday, with former Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, who Trump picked to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. Like most of these picks, Collins is an avid supporter of Trump and, in the 2020 election in which he lost his U.S. Senate bid, jumped on the parade of Trump allies who helped spread ([link removed]) disinformation of mass voter fraud.
But Collins is far from the most controversial of Trump’s picks to be grilled by the Senate. Other high-profile nominees with hearings this week include Republicans South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for secretary of homeland security, attorney Pam Bondi for attorney general, Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Republican operative and Project 2025 contributor Russell Vought for director of the Office of Management and Budget and former Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe as CIA director. There’s already plenty of controversy surrounding most of these nominees — like Hegseth, whose history of sexual misconduct ([link removed]) is sure to come under scrutiny, or Bondi, who has a rich history of election denialism ([link removed]) .
But what I’m most interested to see in these hearings — and the subsequent votes — is how Democrats in Congress approach these nominees. Though the GOP has the majority in the Senate — meaning Trump’s picks are mostly a lock, unless some Republican senators defect — Democrats are in a unique position to show the world who these picks really are, and how their policies and beliefs could be disastrous for Americans and democracy. It might seem like a simple task, but already some Democrats are showing their willingness to vote for some of these picks. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner applauded ([link removed]) Trump for picking Rubio for Secretary of State, while Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, who recently met ([link removed]) with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence, also signaled he’d vote to confirm
([link removed]) Rubio, as well as New York Rep. Elise Stefanik (R), who Trump picked ([link removed]) as UN Ambassador.
It’s no secret what the agenda ([link removed]) for the coming Trump administration is: an authoritarian regime ([link removed]) hellbent on remaking the country into a haven for Christian nationalism ([link removed]) . With that in mind, I’m very, very curious to hear the rationale from any Senate Democrat who votes for one of Trump’s nominees.
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** Could the GOP Actually Eat Itself Alive Under Trump?
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Despite Republicans controlling Congress and the White House, come Monday, the party isn’t as unified as it may seem. How much Republicans unite on key issues will greatly impact how many of their disastrous policies are implemented.
Trump has long-caused a division within the GOP, with “Never-Trump” Republicans vaguely threatening to throw a wrench in the MAGA agenda. While most of those Republicans, more or less, eventually bend the knee ([link removed]) to Trump, there’s a new sort of infighting happening in this second MAGA administration — and it’s not between MAGA and Never-Trump Republicans. It’s between different MAGA factions.
As Aaron Blake writes in a recent Washington Post column ([link removed]) , the situation can best be described by the recent drama between former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon and Elon Musk, as Bannon pledged ([link removed]) to boot Musk from the president-elect’s sphere of influence. It’s no secret that Musk has positioned himself to be a key whisperer in Trump’s ear, even so much as earning himself an appointment in a fake agency ([link removed]) to cut federal spending.
That has apparently pissed off Bannon, who’s vowed to “have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” he told ([link removed]) an Italian news outlet.
It’s hard to figure out exactly why these two and their factions within the MAGA movement are beefing, but best I can tell it’s because ([link removed]) Bannon represents the unrepentantly racist, fascist-sympathizing wing of the MAGA agenda, while Musk and his acolytes represent a bit more of a diverse direction for the party.
It’s unclear if all this amounts to anything significant. Probably not. But it gives a glimpse into how the GOP in this second Trump administration could end up eating its own tail.
** How Republicans Are Using the LA Fires to Push Their Agenda
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As with most of you reading this, I’ve been watching in utter horror as the deadly wild fires in Los Angeles burn out of control, ravaging communities and infrastructure, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. It is an unfathomable tragedy and a sobering reminder of how the perils of climate change are an existential threat at our doorstep.
And yet, in the face of natural disaster, many GOP lawmakers see this tragedy as yet another craven attempt to push their agenda. In an interview on Fox Business about California receiving disaster relief from the federal government, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) did not mince words ([link removed]) : “People are losing their home insurance coverage for fire because of policies that the state government’s doing, and if they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies,” said Davidson.
While Davidson makes a good point that no person should lose their home insurance coverage — for fire or anything else — the idea of withdrawing aid to support people in need because of state policies is, well, nothing short of evil.
And Davidson is not the only Republican making statements like these. During an interview ([link removed]) with CBS News’ Face the Nation, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) also suggested that the fire relief aid to California should be conditional, claiming that “policies of the liberal administration… made these fires worse,” and as such, California’s Democratic leaders should suffer for that. “I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved, and it has to do with being ready the next time, because this was a gross failure this time,” Barrasso said.
It’s unclear how the new Congress and Trump administration will help California recover, but back in September, Trump said ([link removed]) , as president, he would withhold wildfire aid if California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) didn’t give in to his policy demands. "Gavin Newsom is going to sign those papers and if he doesn't sign those papers, we won't give him money to put out all his fires."
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