GOP Senators Who Hinder Confirmation Of Trump’s National Security Picks Put American Lives At Risk
Less than a week into 2025, the need for rapid Senate confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s national security team could not be more apparent.
On New Year’s Day, Americans across the country were subjected to multiple suspected terrorist attacks, capping off a devastating end to Joe Biden’s disastrous presidency.
In New Orleans, ISIS-inspired Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented vehicle into a crowd, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more in the process. Meanwhile, authorities are investigating a potential act of terrorism in Las Vegas, where active-duty Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger blew himself up while inside a rented Tesla Cybertruck stationed outside of the city’s Trump International Hotel.
While details remain forthcoming and potential links between the suspects are undergoing investigation, the Jan. 1 attacks have prompted widespread criticism of the federal agencies tasked with preventing such tragedies from occurring.
As my colleague Brianna Lyman aptly noted, the Biden FBI has been much too busy hunting down parents at school board meetings, Christians, and other conservative-leaning Americans to stop actual threats to the U.S. homeland. And when it’s not targeting leftists’ political opponents, it’s expending resources running interference for high-profile Democrats like the Bidens.
Such weaponization has allowed prospective terrorist attacks like that in New Orleans to go undetected, leaving innocent Americans to pay the ultimate price. Coupled with the Biden administration’s open border policies, it’s created the potential for future attacks and further carnage the president and his team are obviously unprepared for.
With Biden on his way out the door, many Americans are hoping the incoming Trump administration can succeed where the current administration has failed. The nominations of Pete Hegseth (Defense Department secretary), Tulsi Gabbard (director of National Intelligence), and Kash Patel (FBI director), for example, offer a chance for conservatives to restore accountability to these agencies and give them the dramatic overhauls they clearly need.
Such reforms can only happen, however, if Senate Republicans act quickly to confirm these nominees.
While approving newly inaugurated presidents’ cabinet appointments has been a longstanding tradition of the Senate, some GOP senators have signaled a willingness to slow-walk — if not outright sabotage — some of Trump’s most pertinent nominees.
Last month, The Federalist reported on efforts by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, to kneecap Hegseth’s Pentagon nomination. The Iowa Republican enlisted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to partake in her “aggressive” personal jihad against Hegseth, who reportedly worked with Ernst to lobby Trump to dump Hegseth in favor of Ernst.
While Ernst and Graham seemingly changed their tunes on Hegseth following The Federalist’s reporting on their campaign, other GOP senators have remained uncommitted to supporting Hegseth’s confirmation.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., declined to commit to supporting the Army veteran’s nomination when pressed by The Federalist last month. Meanwhile, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. — who has pledged to support Hegseth and other Trump nominees — issued a veiled threat to GOP voters that continued pressure to confirm Trump’s picks could prompt Republicans to side with Democrats in tanking their nominations.
Legacy media have also played their part in the establishment’s efforts to tank Trump’s transformative nominees. Last month, Reuters published anonymous claims from alleged Trump world sources that there are at least eight Republican senators who “harbored doubts” about supporting Gabbard’s DNI nomination. One source purportedly identified four possible swing votes on Gabbard’s confirmation: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Curtis of Utah, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Contrary to the establishment’s affinity for petty political gamesmanship, Americans can’t afford delayed confirmation of Trump’s national security picks.
As demonstrated this week, the failures wrought by the Biden administration are far too severe for the Senate GOP to drag its feet on these nominees. Filling their positions as efficiently and quickly as possible is vital to preventing possible future attacks on the country and its people.
Hindering the process due to petty or personal grievances does nothing but place the lives of Americans at risk.
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
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