December 04, 2024 11:56 AM UTC

DoDudebro Pete Hegseth Circling The Drain

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• by: Colorado Pols

As CNN reports, after two weeks of “outreach” to skeptical Republican U.S. Senators, the nomination of Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as the nation’s Secretary of Defense is hanging by a pube:

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, told CNN “no” he’s not dropping out despite facing a tough path to confirmation.

He added that Trump still has confidence in him and he’s recently spoken to the president-elect.

Hegseth ignored several questions from reporters as he headed into the Capitol for a meeting with incoming Republican leader John Thune, but did repeat that he is not dropping out of contention to be confirmed to lead the Pentagon as concerns grow about misconduct allegations against him.

“No,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju when he asked if Hegseth would drop out.

Hegseth’s nomination has been beset from the outset by allegations of sexual misconduct and wild drunken partying as the weekend host of Fox and Friends. While it’s all full steam ahead right up to the moment Hegseth gets the fateful phone call, the Washington Post reports that Donald Trump is already looking at alternatives to Hegseth–a fact which, once reported, tends to set in motion the death spiral:

President-elect Donald Trump is considering replacing Pete Hegseth as his pick for defense secretary with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Florida) as Hegseth faces growing doubts about his ability to earn confirmation in the Senate…

Trump and his allies’ interest in alternatives to Hegseth underscores the uncertainty over whether Hegseth can be confirmed in the Senate, amid skepticism about his qualifications for the job and allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement in a previous role. Trump’s first pick for attorney general — former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz — bowed out last month amid concerns he could not win confirmation, and his selection to head the Drug Enforcement Administration abruptly withdrew on Tuesday.

In the case of Trump’s nominee to head the DEA, Chad Chronister, Trump claims that he pulled the nomination citing Chronister’s treatment of churches during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida–something we assumed would have come up during whatever vetting process that took place. After ex-Rep. Matt “Giggity” Gaetz aborted his laugh-track bid for Attorney General, the conventional wisdom was the sacrifice of that ill-advised nomination would help Trump get the rest of his Cabinet through the confirmation process.

At this point, any more “sacrificial” nominees become part of a failing trend. Trump’s first choices have not been good choices, and there still appear to be some lingering guardrails.