GOPers Subvert Voters’ Wishes By Sabotaging Trump’s Picks

Friday’s Senate confirmation of Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon was a major win for those hopeful that a second Trump administration will bring transformational change to the federal government. But the uncertainty over whether the Senate GOP would approve his nomination inadvertently shined a light on a glaring problem with the Republican Party.

Until the moment Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote in his favor, it was virtually unknown whether Hegseth had the votes necessary to become America’s next secretary of defense. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. — who previously pledged to support Hegseth and President Donald Trump’s other nominees — was seemingly getting cold feet on voting to confirm the Army veteran ahead of Friday night’s confirmation vote.

With all Democrats expected to vote in opposition, Hegseth could only afford to lose three GOP votes. At that point, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, had already announced their respective intent to oppose Hegseth, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had given no indication of which way he would vote.

Assuming McConnell sided with Collins and Murkowski, a “no” vote from Tillis would have sunk Hegseth’s confirmation.

While the North Carolina Republican ultimately made the right choice by supporting Hegseth, the entire spectacle raises a significant question: Why was the success of Hegseth’s confirmation in question to begin with?

What Republican voters have seen play out with transformational picks like Hegseth has been anything but the “advice and consent” role delegated to the Senate and its members. Rather, it’s been a display of the GOP establishment’s willingness to sabotage these Trump appointees before the upper chamber votes on their nominations.

Last month, for instance, Trump world sources told The Federalist that Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, was quietly working with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to pressure Trump to drop Hegseth as his defense secretary nominee. It was only after The Federalist reported on their efforts and the conservative pressure campaign that followed that Ernst and Graham backed off and ultimately supported Hegseth’s confirmation.

But Hegseth’s nomination is only the tip of the iceberg. Other “disruptor” Trump picks whose confirmations remain ripe for GOP obstruction include Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Health and Human Services).

Semafor, for example, published anonymous remarks last week from GOP senators supposedly “concern[ed]” about Gabbard’s nomination. An Army veteran and former Democrat, Gabbard has been critical of America’s failed overseas interventionism and weaponization of surveillance tools against U.S. citizens. (On the latter issue, she’s been all but forced to change her position, seemingly to gain support from some Republican senators.)

Key Republican senators who have signaled potential opposition to her nomination include Collins, McConnell, and Todd Young of Indiana, according to The Hill.

It’s fine for GOP senators to ask legitimate questions of any prospective appointee and his or her views. That’s especially true when those nominees hold policy positions that go against a conservative worldview, such as Kennedy’s previously espoused support for abortion.

But the deliberate efforts by some Republican senators to subvert these picks have nothing to do with their commitment to conservatism or Trump’s vision and everything to do with the threat the nominees pose to the D.C. status quo.

Following Trump’s lead, Hegseth is committed to changing the way the Pentagon has done business for years, and he plans to gut harmful DEI policies and reform the procurement process. Gabbard and Kennedy’s nominations hold similar promise for their respective appointed agencies.

That’s the type of disruption more than 77 million Americans voted for when they sent Trump back to the White House. They did so with the expectation that a GOP Congress would work with him to transform the federal government into a body that works for and is accountable to the people. That expectation includes giving his cabinet picks a fair process and supporting them to help execute his America First agenda.

GOP voters should not have to wait around and guess whether Republican senators — especially those from “red” states who voted for many of Joe Biden’s radical nominees — will be supporting the appointees of a Republican president. The fact that they do is an indictment of the pathetic state of the Republican Party, whose members conservatives can always count on to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood