With the reality that the US Senate confirmed, by a tie vote broken by Vice President JD Vance, the nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, one must wonder will there ever be FOUR Republican Senators who will stand in the way of any Donald Trump nominee?
One could argue that the defense of the nation, the protection of all Americans, is endangered by having a Secretary of Defense, who has zero qualifications for the position, and has a history of alcohol problems and sexual promiscuity, which could make him suspect of being compromised by foreign spies, in a worst possible scenario.
But with the reality that this nomination went through, is there any hope of any of the other objectionable nominees being stopped?
Tulsi Gabbard is a real security risk if she becomes Director of National Intelligence.
Kash Patel is a danger if he is made head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the next decade, the worst possible nominee since J. Edgar Hoover passed away in 1972.
And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, a true loose cannon with drug and alcohol problems and delusional behavior and beliefs, is a massive threat to the health and safety of 340 million Americans, with his anti vaccine lunacy and denial of basic science.
So the question arises: Can four Republican Senators be counted upon to reject any or all of these controversial nominees?
One would hope Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins might follow through, but can they be expected to reject all three of these controversial nominees?
Can Mitch McConnell do so as well, considering his concerns about national security and foreign policy, and his having had polio as a child?
But will anyone else, such as Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is a doctor and has expressed concern about RFK Jr’s crazy views on public health?
What about John Curtis, the new Utah Senator who replaced Mitt Romney, and was thought to be a likely vote to oppose Hegseth, but did not do so?
What about James Lankford of Oklahoma, who had been a co-sponsor of immigration legislation in 2024 that Trump convinced Republicans to refuse to support?
What about Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who wavered on Hegseth and ended up supporting him in the end?
And then, there are rumors that Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania might support one of more of these three controversial nominees, and even, crazily, that Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse might support RFK Jr, who was a college friend decades ago.