As a licensed attorney, the thought of Matt Gaetz as the nation's top attorney is disgusting. What a joke. Of course, with a covicted felon in the WH, what's wrong with a suppressed statutory rape charge for the attorney general?

I assume this means they will attempt to prosecute every single person on Trump's personal vendetta list.

Definitely a new world.

I do wonder how many of his cabinet, top special advisors will last 2 years.

Look at his appointments then. Look at these appointments now. He had some pretty creepy people in his cabinet 8 years ago, but they look like law abiding Mensa members compared to the likes of Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz. So much of the absolute crazy stuff he wanted to do was halted by the people around him. That is not going to be the case with this bunch.

Guys. We’re not surviving this. It’s been a good run.

Gaetz is nowhere near as funny as Hegseth. It's of course bad to have a pedophile as AG but he's further to the left on antitrust and corporate power than most Dems.

Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz does not have federal criminal experience except in the area of sex trafficking.


@kenwhite.bsky.social on Bluesky

Guess we can put that "they'll just 25th him and get JD in a few months" stuff to bed, eh?

That was never happening. Trump is going to enjoy a sweet life of playing golf, and let the inmates run the asylum.

I was just telling a friend yesterday that Trump's nominations so far are bad, but I was expecting worse. The Secretary of Defense and AG nominations have us back where I expected to be.

Gaetz is being brought in to rubber stamp Trump going after political enemies and Hegseth is there to purge non-MAGA generals.

There was always going to be a few oddballs in there and I imagine one of them doesn't get approved (probably Hesgeth). But most of the others are just run-of-the-mill neocons like he had the first time around. Is Gaetz really much worse than Jeff Sessions?

There's nothing Trump can do that is remotely as damaging as having an electorate that chose him twice. The damage is already done.

Rumors are Trump is planning on working with Johnson to use an article 2 power that never been used previously. If the two chambers disagree about adjourning, the President can adjourn them. So long as Johnson is on board, this means Trump will recess appoint everybody regardless of what the Senate decides.

They either agree to adjourn with the House and Trump makes the appointments or they disagree, Trump adjourns them, and then makes recess appointments.

t least for the next two years Trump is going to have whoever he wants.

America wanted a dictator...so a dictator they will get.

Hope they enjoy it

My wife sent me this and I thought this crew would enjoy it:



x.com

Most don't.

His staffing choices, or the extremely high failure rate for them, are probably my single biggest gripe about term one

Marco, Matt, and don't forget DJT is a resident now... It's officially a Florida Man administration!

:D

A great deal of his supporters, me very much included, are going to be very disappointed if he doesn't.

Which is roughly how I feel about the fact there's anywhere that the election was even close.

It's why I've never bought into the whole "MAGA" concept.

There's too many ignorant, mentally/emotionally ill, and plain ol' evil people in the country for "great" to ever be a reasonable goal.

And those three things account for pretty much every vote )cast by a real person) for Harris or Biden.

Is there a Bluesky version of FOFC? Asking for a friend...

Honestly, this sort of thing doesn't surprise me coming from JIMG, but has anyone noticed an uptick of this type of rhetoric all over the Internet lately? Thinking of severely reducing all Internet exposure from here on out.

It's really concerning if this is the attitude people have around us in the modern day.

Was there a memo I missed that everyone is supposed to hate everyone now?

Almost seems like normal.

On why the Gaetz pick ...

Just a moment...
More interesting in the article. We'll see how damning the report is.


And then we have the below prediction. My guess is Trump will get the guy he wants, one way or another.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/senat...021449503.html

Let's just assume this is accurate ... I'm suddenly about 50% more enthused about the choice than I was before reading it.

Can't wait to see Matt Gaetzs plan for lowering the cist of eggs

We're soon going to find out that they don't actually want to make the lives of Americans better, they're just vindictive B words. You know what word I mean. I can't say it. But I waaaaaaaaant to say it.

We are in the weirdest timeline.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna179936

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On the contrary, I would say poor citizenship (at a minimum) accounts for everyone who would ever consider voting for Trump at this point for any position, under any circumstances, regardless of who the other major party opponent was; dogcatcher, president, or anything in between.


The amusing thing about this kind of overt endorsement of banana-republic style tactics is that they never work out. Even if Trump ends up being irresponsible enough and violating his oath of office enough to do this, he will eventually not be president anymore. And then you have to deal with the payback. The only way government can ever work is by people actually following the laws, not flouting them when it suits their whim.

Reporting coming out today that 10+ R Senators are going to vote "no" on Gaetz. Yesterday I saw a take from someone on the right (not sure who, was just scrolling) that was essentially "this is Trump's first true 4-D chess move in either of his terms" because it:

• gets Gaetz out of the House, greatly improving morale for House Republicans (I literally LOLed when I read that)
• demonizes non-MAGA R Senators who will vote not to confirm him
• Simultaneously allows non-MAGA R Senators to look all statesmanlike because they "stood up to Trump" in the early days of round 2, so they can confirm just about everyone else with the cover of "we didn't just rubber-stamp all of them!"
• Gives Gaetz an excuse to step down from the House before the vote on his conduct

EVERYBODY WINS!
(I think the post may have mentioned another outcome or two as well, but those are the ones I recall.)

If true, you think Gaetz is in on this 4-D move?

I didn't see him having the votes since he's probably the most hated person on capital hill. I assumed the Rs would eventually fold and he'd get through though.

I have no idea. And keep in mind, the above was just one dude's take. I tend to doubt it's that deep. That said, another thought: what happens if he's not confirmed but Rubio is? Can't DeSantis just...make Gaetz a Senator at that point? And...why wouldn't he? On brand. Sticks it to the libs and the RINOs. Kisses up to Trump. That move seems to check all the boxes, no?

I think he just happens to like Gaetz, views him as loyal, and gave him a slot. I don't think it's much deeper than that.

I think Gaetz said he was willing to do the things nobody else will and that appeals to Trump. Trump certainty doesn't give a damn about the effective management of the DoJ outside of how that effects him personally.

Yeah, if I had to guess, this. But the way it plays out could be...interesting.

He's always said he wanted his Roy Cohn. Gaetz is willing to be that guy. Trump doesn't think further ahead than that.

This basically: x.com

I believe Desantis wants that seat in two years. I think part of Trump's thinking in picking Rubio was to bribe him off that seat and try to pressure Desantis to install Laura Trump into it. The immediate calls for Desantis to name her from the Trump people tells me that is the case. The main reason he wouldn't (beyond spite for Trump) is he wants the seat, and wants to pick someone who has no interest in keeping it. Gaetz would be the same problem.

Now, it is possible that Desantis chooses to not run for Senate to fully concentrate on a White House run. In that case he might pick Laura Trump to help suck up to the Trump people.

Same. They have a lot in common. Both came from wealthy, powerful parents. Both love the lights and attention. And they share a common interest in underage girls (maybe boys too in Gaetz case).

I can see there being some truth to this one. If you aren't willing to accept Gaetz you likely aren't willing to accept the FOX News guy and likely Gabbard. Vote no on Gaetz but let the other 2 through would give some cover.

Personally I think the votes should be secret ballot. Look at what happened with Thune vs. Scott. These people know right from wrong, they just care more about their careers in politics than doing the right thing.

Looks like a bunch of them are looking for reasons to obey the king.

What I’m hearing privately from a few key GOP senators: yes, they’d prefer to not have a messy fight over Gaetz. Not their favorite. But they also don’t have a lot of energy for pushing back. Trump runs the show, they say. If Gaetz can reassure them, they’re open to backing him.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) November 14, 2024

Collins and Murkowski will vote no because it will be meaningless. A couple others will have concerns. But none of them want a war with Trump this early. They'll give him what he wants out the gate.

I think Trump is taking a page out of the "Bad Boys Pistons" playbook on Jordan and the Bulls. They would just go out fouling like crazy from the start and the Pistons knew the refs wouldn't have the stomach to foul the entire team out so they let a lot slide. Trump is dumping gasoline on the entire nomination process knowing that the congress won't have the stomach to reject a bunch of these guys.

If he just did Gaetz and a bunch of "normal nominations", he probably doesn't have a chance. But they can't block everyone so they have to decide which hill they want to die on (in regards to Trump).

Flood the zone is a Bannon thing from the first run.

This is exactly why they shouldn't be secret ballot. People have a right to know. The fact that the electorate is irresponsible enough to say 'why didn't you support Trump's unqualified nominations' rather than 'thank you for doing your job' doesn't mean we should hide from them what their Senators actually voted on the record.

RFK Jr selected to lead HHS.

I thought I liked Jared Polis, but he's very excited about RFK Jr. so that's a hard no on him.

It is wild to look at cabinet members per tenure on wikipedia.

Trump had 7 acting and official Attorney Generals in his four years and 5 acting and official Secretaries of Health and Human Services. And 4 Secretaries of State. Most other recent presidents had 1 or 2 per 4 (or 8) year terms.

Worth noting that it isn't unusual to have an interim/acting during the initial confirmation periods at the beginning of terms, but good lord it seems crazy that people like Rubio or Markwayne Mullin, who both could have are senate seats for the next 30 years, would roll the dice to work in this administration given their likelihood of survival. I guess it is possible they (and the house members like Stefanik) are looking to fastback to their lobbying careers while they are still young enough to enjoy it.

Was that tweet a tryout for MAGA so that he has something lined up when his term ends? WTF

Everything the right fantasizes about Soros, Elon is doing. He met with Iran's UN Ambassador to talk foreign policy.

Musk met with the Un Ambassdor of Iran today. That seems totally normal, right?

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As a researcher who relies on federal funding to advance science and therapies, RFK leading for more than 6 months would probably ensure that we fall decades behind China and other countries in science.

As mixed as I am on some Trump nominees, I'm very happy to see former Congressman Doug Collins (GA) picked to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

A guy who is probably a little too kind/gentle/goodhearted to be in politics, I can't imagine anyone who will put more of their heart into that job nor put more effort into it.

Thune now saying recess appointments are a possibility. They are all going to serve King Trump in whatever ways please him.

lmao

Make measles great again.

I mean I'm sure it'll be a disaster but the current head of HHS has no medical experience either and was allowing kids to be used as slave labor. So the floor was pretty low already.

Trump selects his personal attorney, Todd Blanche, to be deputy AG.

Just in case Gaetz gets any ideas... or into another minor's pants.

Does anyone remember Nestor or was he memory holed into the ether?

I'm trying to come up with analog left-wing nominees to mirror Trump's in a mirror universe where, I dunno, Susan Sarandon won the Presidency.

Defense: Jane Fonda
State: Ilhan Omar
HHS: Mark Cuban (actually, no, this would be a good appointment), Travis Kelce
AG: AOC
U.N.: Ayanna Pressley
NSA: Jamie Raskin
DHS: J.B. Pritzker
National Intelligence: Adam Kinzinger
Ambassador to Israel: Pramila Jayapal
DOGE: Oprah & The Zuck

Those are too respectable.

Not valid without Soros on there.

Sorry but you're going to need to find a pedophile to fill that AG role to balance it. Is Jared Fogle a Democrat? What about Sandusky?

He would be more appropriate equivalent for Ambassador to Israel.

Kind of curious how much rope they give RFK Jr. He's been loudly against factory farming practices and meat production. I can't imagine the people who voted Trump would be all that pleased seeing burgers and steaks double on price but who knows.

I'm anxious to find out what spots that Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon will be given in Trump's party.

Trump isn't going to put up with Elon thinking he's really the President.

It would be amazing if people started referring to Elon as the real president just see Trump explode.

I don't know why Elon is doing this but interesting.

New York Times’ @farnazfassihi reports that @elonmusk has met with Iran’s UN ambassador to discuss de-escalating tensions between the US and Iran. There are several reasons why this is a positive and welcomed step.

As I wrote in @amconmag in August, Trump ultimately wanted to… pic.twitter.com/5bInvmcjb0

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) November 15, 2024

Menendez for Sec State, Blagojevich for AG

Somewhat disconcerting ... Elonia

I have high school friends on Facebook thanking Trump for already bringing down gas prices.

They will head the department that handles all sexual harassment claims.

So Title Nein.

My cousin who formerly was dean of students at a D1 school pointed out to me yesterday if the Dept. of Ed is abolished so is Title IX enforcement.

It's unlikely he has the votes to abolish it. What he can do is cut funding and cripple it.

We'd very likely see schools cut special needs programs if Title 1 money was cut as part of that. The next program a lot of schools would have to put on the chopping block would be sports if there's any decrease in funding.

I think he wants to do the opposite. Completely remove the department of education and keep a few of the programs where money goes directly to schools (ie, Title 1 and IDEA) and just have them under different existing agencies.

I'm still not sure on how this would work, but I would be really surprised if he cut the 10-15% of total funding public schools directly get from the Feds (states still pay over 80%) as part of this. There is a ton of waste and bureaucracy in the Dept of Education. Having a sane person look at it probably isn't a bad idea. But this could be a mess if he doesn't do it right.

In theory, just providing the existing funding directly to schools would save some money. Still, he would need 60 votes from the Senate to do it and that seems unlikely. My guess is he cuts some of the staff in the department and this becomes another (in a long list) of campaign promises he doesn't keep.

This deserves praise.

All the Dept. of Education stuff is right out of Project 2025. You can read all of the plans there.

I mean, sure. Do you really think he's going to have a sane person look at it? Do you really think that those backing him aren't completely antagonistic against education as a whole? They don't care if schools have money (unless they are privatized ones that their friends own, which they can funnel money to).

Also, he is just going to laugh at the Senate. They'll just do things whether they are voted on or not. It's not exactly act first, ask permission later -- it's act first, only stop if the courts tell you to. (And even then...not sure what stops them?)

Exactly. And if you read through it, the end goal is to have tax money go to vouchers and vouchers go to charter schools / religious schools, etc....

The complete capitalist makeover of education, free choice write large. Except that free choice extends to the schools who, because they aren't public schools (even if they accept vouchers) can pick their students.

Meaning good education for those who have the means to jump through all the testing hurdles for little Jack and Jane as well as the correct demographics, and shit public education for everyone else outside of a few blue conclaves that will still vote to support their own local private schools.

I don't disagree that there's probably a lot of waste in the Department of Education but a) it's likely dwarfed by the waste in the Department of Defense and b) let's not conflate that with what Project 2025 is actually looking to achieve here.

Vouchers totally fuck rural education, that's why Eastern KY went so hard against the vote for vouchers there. In places where there isn't profit for private schools it just means less state money for public education.

Rural people should be in the mines and on the farms, JPhillips.

Speaker Johnson looks like he's going to keep the ethics committee from releasing the underage sex report on Gaetz.

Betsy DeVos was one of the few members of Cabinet who stayed for the whole four years. Vouchers, charter schools, and the privatization of K-12 education is a crusade (and money-maker) for her. She and her network are still very closely involved with Trump & Co. Again, you don't have to go too far to understand exactly what they are planning.


"Mitch McConnell has made his decision, now let him enforce it."

Smart. If I was Johnson I'd want the ringleader of all the anti-Speaker sentiment from the past 4 years out of Congress.

I cant speak for other states but i think its highly unlikely special ed gets cut in california. Lawsuits stemming from special ed related issues are huge huge money sinks and cutting back would likely result in increased costs stemming from increased lawsuits. Arts and extra curriculars seem more likely to go if there has to be cuts. Oh and less intensive general ed mental health, parenting outreach, social work, etc all seem more likely to be cut as those are less likely to result in lawsuits. Of course more of that would bd funneled to special ed making it even tougher to attract and keep staff.

So generally preventative supports while money goes to areas of immediate need to prevent lawsuits

If school IEPs go away the backlash is going to be tremendous.

He's already out (it's the reason the report isn't getting out, he resigned).. he probably doesn't want to annoy His Trumpiness by having one of his nominees shot down in flames

The 75% reduction in federal employees that Vivek keeps throwing out isn't feasible either. Most reductions in federal workforce would likely get shifted to contractors, who actually cost the government more. But that's more government money to be funneled to Vivek and Elon's buddies. It'd likely end up similar to the Clinton cuts from the 90s that resulted in active duty servicemembers filling in jobs that are cut where they're available as well. That stretches units thin and hurts readiness.

Government is more efficient when its work is shifted to the private sector. The fact that this practice also tends to enrich politically-connected business leaders in the private sector is purely a coincidence.

If you're looking to cut the budget and not cutting the defense budget, you are not serious about cutting the budget.

Narrator: They are in fact not serious about cutting the budget.

Well, they're very serious about cutting revenue.

That wont happen as you may as well close all public schools at that point.

That's a GOP fantasy.

For the rich and elite sure but making all the voters being stuck at home with their kids again is a sure fire way to not win more elections.

No more elections is the second GOP fantasy. You are catching on.