Trump’s Blitz and Senate Hearings
Welcome back to Politics Explained! In the second week of Donald Trump’s presidency, A LOT has happened. We’re here to catch you up. We’ll discuss more Senate hearings* for Trump’s cabinet picks and summarize the Trump Administration’s further sweeping actions and what effect they’ve had.
This past week, multiple Senate hearings were held for President Trump’s cabinet picks including for the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the FBI. For HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was questioned about statements and stances he’s taken in his past. For example, Democratic Senator Michael Bennett asked about RFK Jr.’s statements on COVID-19 being engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. For Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard faces challenges in her history of being a Democrat for two decades and her differing views on foreign policy compared to many Republican senators. The Senate Intelligence Committee is comprised of 9 Republicans and 8 Democrats, and the two Republican senators who may stand in her way of approval are Senators Susan Collins and Todd Young. However, while Sen. Collins expressed she was pleased with Gabbard’s answers, Sen. Young seemed discontent with her unwillingness to label Edward Snowden a traitor (Edward Snowden leaked classified information compromising US national security. He has since fled to Russia where he has been granted citizenship). For the Director of the FBI Kash Patel, skepticism can be found in his support of conspiracy theories and his pledges to pursue retribution against Trump’s opponents.
The Trump Administration has hit the ground running. In what some are calling a “blitz”, it seems President Trump is trying to take as much action as possible to confuse and overwhelm Democratic opposition. Some of these actions have included pausing federal funding and grants, freezing federal hiring, restricting travel and public communication of certain departments, offering paid leave to government workers willing to leave, and much more. The pausing of federal funding caused mass amounts of confusion as many Americans worried about losing Medicare, Medicaid, and other benefits that they rely on. This action, however, has been frozen by two US judges. The freezing of federal hiring has caused issues of its own as well. In an incident where there was an apparently under-staffed control tower, a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane collided, killing all on board. Trump has received criticism for blaming this devastating incident on DEI policies at the FAA. Stay tuned for more updates on all of these fronts.
*Definition of the Week (Senate hearings): The Senate hearings for presidential cabinet picks involve nominees testifying before the relevant Senate committee, answering questions about their qualifications and policies, followed by a committee vote and a final confirmation vote by the full Senate.
