[PassedOut]

I wonder who will be up next for Attorney General. Rudy?

[shyams]

barmar, on 2024-November-21, 17:03, said:

I agree that Rubio will probably be easiest to confirm. Not because of any particular policy issues, but simply because he's a "mainstream Republican". He's a career politician, he's been a Senator for 14 years, and has been a non-joke Presidential candidate. He's arguably one of the most qualified of all these crazy nominations.

The only way anyone could sail through the process more smoothly would be if Trump nominates Lindsay Graham or Mitch McConnell.

I presume this is some form of parody or satire.
* Lindsay Graham is the biggest war hawk in the Senate.
* Mitch McConnell once said that funding Ukraine was a bigger priority for the Senate than funding needs for disasters that had occurred (I think it was weeks after a hurricane or some such disaster had affected thousands of Americans).

[shyams]

• Let's see what happens with RFK Jr.
  Trump literally endorsed RFK's policy of "Make America Healthy". He said so in at least a couple of speeches; that he'll allow RFK loose on the food industry. So as per hrothgar's reasoning, RFK's nomination should be approved by Senate.
  However, my view is that Senate will create numerous obstacles in the confirmation because "Big Food" is another group of mega-donors for Congress (esp. Senate)
  
  
• The DOGE initiative is another that has Trump's explicit endorsement.
  Now, I dislike the idea that a Pvt. Sector person like Musk will be given power without oversight or accountability, but that's another matter.
  Your Senate will (I believe) have to confirm Vivek. I won't be surprised if his Senate confirmation runs into procedural obstacles.
  
  
• The Deptt of Govt. Efficiency will need formal Govt. resources. Let's see how soon your House of Representatives (esp. Speaker Johnson) move to arrange for them. I predict it will go too slowly for its own good.
  DOGE is a Govt. Deptt., it cannot be run in a freestyle, unregulated manner like what Vivek or Elon imagine it to be. So it will need a formal budget approval.
  Note that until the Senate confirms the Head of DOGE and/or formally recognises DOGE as a Govt. department, other Federal Departments will not be legally obliged to heed to any demands made by this team of people.
  
  
• Hegseth may well fail in his nomination for SecDef because he does not appear to be a M-I-C "champion". That view alone is disqualifying.
  Trump said something like "the enemy is within" and expressed a desire to update the Military. Hegseth is on record saying he will fire many of the 3-Star and 4-Star generals.
  This alignment of policy will be ignored; not even 1 out of the 44(!) 4-Star generals will be allowed to be fired without a huge resistance put up by Congress.

If it matters, I believe Lloyd Austin (the current SecDef) was the fastest/first confirmation by Senate for the Biden administration. Because he's so "mainstream"

I'd be happy if all of my predictions turn out wrong. Alas, I fear that the establishment's interests will prevail and you all (the average American people) will be worse off for it.

[pilowsky]

DOGE is an advisory body - the Senate isn't involved.