Sunday, January 22, 2017

Trump's Cabinet picks will be questioned by both parties

Monday will be President Donald Trump's first regular workday on the job. His Cabinet picks will be questioned by the Senate at the confirmation hearings. 

Trump's pick for CIA Director, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas) will be grilled for the top spook position. He has already been asked by the Democrats about his opinions regarding global warming because Democrats think the fires set by ISIS to kill Jordanian pilots were actually caused by climate change.

Both parties have strong differences about the future of Trump's over 20 nominees. Top Democrats have decided to slow down the process of picking Pompeo for CIA Director. They worry that in spite of his graduating first in his class at West Point, he may not have a good grasp on LBGTQEXIK issues and abortion. 

Worse, he might also be a racist due to his party affiliation.

So the party that brought us the Vietnam War but protested it when Nixon became president is now gumming up the works in spite of the swift conformations Obama was granted by the GOP his first day in office. The top Democrats postponed Pompeo's vote because they wouldn't rush through the process of confirmation because they tend to need more time to suck enough.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck "Nostrils" Schumer told CNN's "State of the Union" that several of Trump's remaining nominees will be subject to a "thorough debate." And Schumer, as we all know, is a master debater, but he said he was "dubious" about eight or nine of Trump's picks.

So far, the Senate has confirmed Gens. James Mattis (aka "The Monk") as SecDef, and John Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary. But with all his bluster and nostril flaring, there is little Schumer can do about blocking a confirmation if the Republicans stick together. And we can all thank Harry Reid (aka "Hairy Weed") for that. 

A simple majority of 51 will do just fine and the GOP has a 52 to 48 majority in the Senate thanks to Obama's policies.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appears confident about being able to get enough votes to have all of President Trump's nominees confirmed. (What goes around, comes around, Hairy.)

Even former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson's chances becoming Secretary of State has improved when two influential GOPers expressed support after having waivered over his past professional ties to Russia.

"Though we still have concerns about his past dealing with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests," Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham said in a joint statement.

Along with McCain and Graham, fellow GOPer Sen. Marco Rubio questioned whether Tillerson has too many conflicts of interest, especially with Russia to champion U.S. policy abroad. 

For example, while at ExxonMobil, Tillerson spoke out against the sanctions we levied on Moscow when they annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. The penalties cost ExxonMobil hundreds of millions of dollars.

So Monday should prove to be an interesting day in terms of how the Democrats handle the confirmation hearing. By gumming up the gears they risk losing whatever support they have among somewhat normal independents.

Let's just see.


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