Reply to Pete Hedgseth for Secretary of Defense

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m surprised Hegseth hasn’t withdrawn yet. Surely he’s self-aware enough to know he isn’t qualified for this job.[/quote]
“The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self awareness.”
- Annie Savoy

I agree that he’s not going to make it, though.[/quote]

Oh there is a lot of pressure on the senators now. If you are a republican senator and you do not vote of him you are gone. Republicans senators and congressmen only serve at Trump’s pleasure. This is not 10 years ago.[/quote]

Not really. This is true for many Senators but not all. Collins not only has freedom to stand up to Trump, many of her constituents want it. Murkowski still has a lot of freedom and Alaska is conservative but not in thrall to MAGA. John Curtis (replace Romney) has a lot of constituents who specifically dislike Trump's morality problems and Hegseth is a mirror for exactly these issues -- they aren't going to boot him because he opposed a Secretary of Defense with a drinking problem and a history of infidelity and bad management. Thom Tillis is from a purple state and while he can't just break from Trump on everything, he could benefit from standing up to him in selective moments and this would be a good one. And then the Joni Ernst issue with her personal background on issues like sexual assault and women in combat is a problem. Oh and you also have Mitch McConnell who is a wildcard -- he cares a lot about defense and NatSec issues and is a lot less tethered to Trump than other Senators. Like John McCain, he may view being a thorn in Trump's side as his swan song before he retires or dies.

You can have 49 Senators who are willing to give Trump whatever he wants but it only takes four to torpedo the nomination and there are more than four currently at least contemplating it. I haven't even listed them all here. And there is also a possibility of a domino effect -- there are people on the fence who won't go out on a limb for this but if enough people start turning against Hegseth they will jump on the bandwagon.[/quote]
I had hopes for Tillis as well but he said he would vote for any Trump nominee who makes it out of committee. He’s not on the Armed Services Committee.[/quote]

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