When asked for comment, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune said "two things we don't discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president."

Summary

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has told Donald Trump that Pete Hegseth likely has enough votes to be confirmed as Defense Secretary, despite controversy over past sexual misconduct allegations, a financial settlement, and concerns about his leadership and alcohol use.

Hegseth’s confirmation hearing is set for Jan. 14, with Senate Republicans aiming to expedite key national security confirmations before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Other high-profile hearings, including for Marco Rubio (State), Pam Bondi (Attorney General), and Tulsi Gabbard (DNI), are tentatively scheduled for the same week amidst ongoing bipartisan negotiations.

  • @CharlesDarwinEnglish
    1•2 days ago

    If it comes to that, Americans may have to use VPNs to read foreign news sources to get anything close to reliable on the state of things, too. Most of the “liberal media” here is already kowtowing to these guys and they haven’t even assumed office yet. Imagine something like bird flu under these clowns and with a totally compliant media acting like North Korea’s state media…