Resistance HQ Bulletin 3

11/13/24

… Trump has set off a firestorm over the last 24 hours with his picks for Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, and Attorney General.

… Trump was looking for an AG who was willing to use the power of the DOJ to violate every cannon of ethics and law to seek retribution and revenge on his political enemies. And he found his man in Matt Gaetz, a pick that goes beyond bad into the realm of the absurd.

… I would be shocked, absolutely shocked, if he’s confirmed by the Senate. But I’ve been shocked before. But the fact that so many Republican Senators were equally shocked is a good sign.

… The other shocking news in all of this is that Matt Gaetz has already officially resigned from Congress, which he did earlier today. He must be pretty confident that he’s going to get confirmed, or he is has another plan.

… My bet is his plan is that he knows he won’t be confirmed. So he becomes a MAGA martyr and hero who stood up for Trump but got shot down by the Swamp and the Deep State. Then he parlays that into a run for Governor of FL in 2026. Bookmark this.

… Markwayne Mullin hates Gaetz with a passion and the feeling is mutual. Mullin would never vote for Gaetz.

… Lisa Murkowski said that Gaetz is “an unserious candidate.”

… No way Susan Collins or Thom Tillis, both facing tough reelections in 2026, are going to vote for toxic Gaetz.

… NBC’s Capitol Correspondent asked to describe the mood after the Gaetz announcement: “WTF. Senators, Republican lawmakers, said, ‘Oh, my God.’”

… What these last few crazy nominations has done to set up a situation where Trump’s nominees are going to get bogged down for weeks and months in ugly confirmation battles. While he has pledged to radically transform every aspect of the federal government immediately, he will have most of his nominees facing battles in the Senate. A recipe for disaster and chaos - which is classic Trump.

… The Senate held elections today on their new Majority Leader, with MAGA backing Rick Scott. However, Scott got the fewest number of votes (13) and was eliminated in the first round, which set up a final vote between establishment candidates John Cornyn and John Thune. Thune was then elected Majority Leader.

… MAGA absolutely melted down over Thune’s win since it is not a secret that he and Trump dislike each other. Trump endorsed Thune’s primary challenger in 2022, then Thune endorsed Trump’s primary challenger (Tim Scott) in 2023. You can read my article about the meltdown here with some screen shots.

… Don Jr said before the vote, “MAGA must do everything in our power to stop either of those two RINOs Thune and Cornyn from ever becoming Senate leader!” Elon Musk also backed Rick Scott, saying that Thune was “the choice of the Democrats.” Oh well.

… Thune then pledged to uphold the Senate filibuster rule. I’ve suddenly learned to love the filibuster.

… Trump then nominated another controversial Cabinet pick - part-time Fox host Pete Hegseth. Republicans are touting his service in combat as a junior officer and his work with veterans charities, but the quirky highly partisan right wing TV host is a terrible fit for a job of this magnitude.

…. Hegseth has no executive experience running anything outside of a small unit in the military. Now he will hold the nuke codes and be in charge of perhaps the single most important government agency on planet earth with over 2 million employees.

… The confirmation process will certainly be interesting with moderate Senators like Lisa Murkowski and Senators facing tough re-election fights in 2026 like Susan Collins and Thom Tillis. He has never even been seriously vetted for anything besides a military security clearance, and there has been a lot of water under the bridge for Pete since then.

… Tulsi Gabbard is reportedly being considered for DNI. That confirmation hearing with be wilder than Hegseth’s if it happens. VA Secretary was my prediction because that would be far less controversial. DNI is a completely different ballgame given her past statements tracking Russian propaganda.

… Late today after I typed the previous paragraph Trump named Gabbard as his pick for DNI. From a national security perspective, this is perhaps even more reckless than the Hegseth pick. Dem Senate staffers are going to be VERY busy going over old interviews and statements made by these two.

… Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were named by Trump to head up the Department of Government Efficiency. No, Trump is not actually creating a new government agency, so they would appear to have no authority over anything nor will either face a confirmation process in the Senate. Unclear the specifics of this yet but it looks like a commission that will study government waste and make recommendations for spending cuts.

… If it is a federal office not only will it be subject to oversight, Elon and Vivek will have to divest their many conflicting business interests in order the accept the position. They won’t want to comply, but failure to comply is a crime. That’s why I think the toxic pair have made a deal to make this sound like an official government position when it is really just an advisory commission. We shall see.

… Of course, Musk chose the name so the acronym would be DOGE, and he has billions invested in DOGE coin. So, like Trump, Musk is seeking to parlay government service into a lucrative money-making opportunity for himself. The Oligarch Class is firmly in charge. Dogecoin was up 20% today after the announcement.

… Musk has pledged to cut a minimum of 33% from the federal budget. Hard to see how you do that while increasing defense spending to record levels as Trump has promised to do while building a missile defense shield and funding Elon’s missions to Mars. Keep an eye on Social Security and Medicare.

… Vivek Ramaswamy said, “The stuffed suits have no idea what’s coming.”

… Alina Habba responded to reports that she is front runner for Press Secretary. She told Sean Hannity that if asked she would be honored to serve. Press Secretary is one of the most difficult jobs in any Administration because you have to know what is happening in every single agency and Congress and be prepared to answer tough, specific questions from a knowledgable, no-nonsense WH press corps. She has never shown an ability to do anything other than rattle off a few slogans and rants from her boss’s social media account.

… Top 5 political donors this election cycle were: Timothy Mellon ($197 million),