Republican Senators have their last chance to prevent the unfathomable damage that Donald Trump will wreak upon our country. They must not confirm his dangerous appointments.
Donald Trump Jr. said we want people in the cabinet who “don’t think that they know better than the duly elected president of the United States.” To the contrary, America needs experts around Trump who will stop him from imposing his blueprint on America and making uninformed decisions out of anger. So Republicans must fulfill their sworn responsibility to the country instead of kowtowing to Trump.
Anti-vaxxer John F Kennedy Jr. is Trump’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services. He has openly spewed false claims about the seriousness of the Covid vaccine’s side effects, including death, and is more than likely to discourage their use. He vowed to purge entire departments at HSS in order to employ his priorities and he’ll be enabled by Trump who promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health. They could kill countless Americans. The risk is undeniable. CDC statistics show that the unvaccinated are 68 times more likely to die from COVID than those who are fully vaccinated and boosted.
Lee Zeldin is Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin received the worst score of the entire New York delegation to the League of Conservation Voters. He’s promised on “day one and the first 100 days to roll back environmental regulations.” He rejects claims of climate change. His confirmation would weaken measures to prevent or mitigate it.
Pete Hegseth is Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense. He’s a Fox News host who’s never managed an organization of any size, let alone a military of 1.3 million active-duty members. He was chosen because he’ll accede to or encourage Trumps military decisions. Remember that it took Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Milley to prevent him from misusing the country’s nuclear arsenal during the last month of his presidency, presumingly out of anger at losing the 2020 election and to manufacture a crises that would keep him in office. Milley had to call the head of China’s military and assure him there was no plan to attack in order to prevent a crises. Trump also told Republican donors that he wanted to bomb North Korea with a plane he’d put a Chinese flag on. Trump and Hegseth are planning to form a board to purge generals, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who push back on Trump’s decisions. There will be no Milley to stop Trump next time – only a Fox News co-host.
Matt Gaetz is Trump’s choice for Attorney General. He’s has less legal experience than most law firm associates. He’s an ultra-Trump loyalist, and will use the Department of Justice as an AK-47 against Trump’s enemies. He warns that there needs to be a “full court press against this [DOJ that’s been weaponized against Republicans] … And if that means abolishing the FBI, I’m ready to get going!” That Gaetz’s is an urgent priority for Trump demonstrates his obsession with retribution. The FBI’s arrested millions of criminals and saved countless American lives. Republicans need to ask themselves, who will pick up the job if Gaetz is in charge?
John Ratcliffe is Trump’s choice for Director of the CIA which Trump accused of being part of the “deep state” — a term that describes a secret network within the government in pursuit of their own agenda that is inconsistent with the President’s. We must remember that Trump is driven by a need for adulation. He has already disclosed classified information to people without security clearance to impress them, saying “It’s so cool” and that the information was classified and “highly confidential.” The CIA needs a strong leader to stop Trump from repeating his transgressions and from exploiting secrete information for financial gain. Watch Reagan return to say Trump tailored foreign policy with China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia against bipartisan to enrich himself. He will emulate his idle, Vladimir Putin who has founded an entourage of corrupt oligarchs to enrich themselves at the expense of his people.
Stephen Miller, who shouted at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally that “America is for Americans only” plans to make it so by deporting undocumented, documented and naturalized citizens who have been in the US for decades. Although impossible financially and practically, the cost of any significant deportation and the resulting labor shortage would result in a surge in inflation.
Trump’s choices expose his contempt for America’s institutions and its entire framework of government. He now has control over the legislature through obedient Republican majorities, and the Supreme Court has already joined his team. Now, through his proposed appointments, he will subjugate Congress to his will.
If the Republican Senate confirms Trump’s choices, they will be tragically complicit in the results. The only hope left will be that the electorate will realize the importance of facts and truth, and not tolerate or reelect Trump.
