Sunday Issues-December 1, 2024
Two more gobsmacking nominations for the Senate to consider.
Donald Trump has no respect for the United States Senate, its members, or its role in our Constitutional structure of government. As a candidate, he has ridiculed Senators ranging from John McCain and Mitt Romney to Ted Cruz. In one case, Trump insulted a Senator’s wife and suggested the Senator’s father was involved with the assassination of JFK. (That Senator, Cruz, has since become a loyal rubber stamp for Trump.)
More recent evidence of Trump’s assessment of the Senate is reflected in the controversial nominees he has sent to the Senate and his push for the Senate to abdicate its Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent to appointments. Trump nominated Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth, all without first informally consulting with Senate leadership on their suitability or chances of confirmation. Over the weekend, Trump nominated Charles Kushner to be the ambassador of France and Kash Patel to head the FBI.
Charles Kushner.
Kushner pled guilty to 16 felony counts in 2005 in a plea deal. He served two years in jail. Among his crimes was witness intimidation. The Justice Department wrote:
Kushner admitted at his plea hearing that he devised a scheme to retaliate against a cooperating witness — his sister — and her husband by having a prostitute seduce the husband and covertly filming them having sex. Kushner admitted that he paid a private investigator $25,000 to arrange for the seduction and videotaping of the cooperating witness’ husband. Kushner admitted to personally recruiting the prostitute and instructing that the videotape be mailed to the cooperating witness.
Donald Trump pardoned Kushner, father to son-in-law Jared Kushner, in December 2020.
In 2023, Charles Kushner donated $1 million to a Trump Super PAC. On November 30, 2024, Trump nominated Mr. Kushner as the United States Ambassador to France.
Should the Senate approve that nomination? Mr. Kushner, like Trump, is a real estate developer. Kushner has no foreign policy expertise or experience but, most likely, enjoys French wines and has visited Paris or Saint-Tropez.
The Kushner nomination is another slap in the face for the U.S. Senate, but it is likely to be approved.
Kash Patel.
Later in the evening Trump trumped his Kushner nomination with Kash Patel. Mr. Patel has been nominated to head the FBI despite the position not being open until 2027.
The incumbent, Christopher Wray, was appointed by Trump to a 10-year term in 2017 but has since disappointed Trump, partly by allowing FBI agents to participate in a search of Mar-a-Lago in connection with the stolen federal documents case.
Kash is expected to eviscerate the FBI. Mark Berman of the Washington Post writes:
By selecting Patel, Trump seeks to replace Wray with a vociferous defender who has echoed his criticisms of what both men call the “deep state” and spoken approvingly of the need for retribution against perceived enemies.
Others familiar with Mr. Patel have been less diplomatic in their reactions to the nomination, going far beyond the word “unqualified.”
Here is a quote from Patel:
We’re gonna come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly — we’ll figure that out.
How will the Senate react to the Patel nomination, especially given its conflict with Mr. Wray's 10-year term?
Tariffs
Trump has turned to tariffs again. After slapping Canada and Mexico in the face with the threat of 25 percent tariffs “on everything,” he is threating 100 percent tariffs on BRICS members if they create a new currency intended to replace the dollar as the premier exchange currency. BRIC includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Trump did not specify if the 100 percent tariff on China would be in addition to the 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs already threatened against the country.
Are Trump’s tariff threats working? Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week. That tells you something, but what?
Thank you.
That is it for this brief news summary. The bottom line is that Trump continues to be outrageously bold in both his personnel nominations and in threatening other countries, including allies. Trump is undermining the chances of achieving many of his stated policy goals. That, as Martha Stewart might say, is a good thing.