On Trump's Cabinet Picks, McConnell Issues Warning

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Inside the hermetically sealed bubble of Donald Trump supporters, it has become clear that the former and future president can simply bypass Congress and magically fill his cabinet with loyalists of his choosing.

That might have been the case if Trump hadn't wanted Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth to be attorney general and secretary of defense, or Tulsi Gabbard to oversee the nation's spy agencies, not to mention Robert F. Kennedy Jr. approaching the CDC. These are almost tailor-made choices to ensure that the constitutional advice and consent clause remains on solid footing.

Even those who need Trump most to think they are worthy allies are setting the stage for a slow return to reality: None of this will be easy, the new Senate majority leader said last week , John Thune, on Trump's nominees, emphasizing how this Cabinet is not a success.

But if you really want to understand where top leaders stand against Trump's norm-busting nominees, listen carefully to what outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says to his allies in open session and, perhaps, in private advice.

Institutions worth preserving must be defended. And it is this work that, out of necessity, has occupied my attention during my time in Washington, McConnell said at a conservative think tank gala in his honor last week. It became clear to me that it was worth maintaining credible control of majority rule, even if it did not serve my party's immediate political interests. Because abrupt policy changes with each transfer of power do not serve the interests of the nation. For significant legislation to endure, it must win the support of a broad coalition.

McConnell was speaking widely at an American Enterprise Institute event about the Senate's slow pace and ability to calm passions. But when asked bluntly, the outgoing leader did not mince his words: each of these candidates must appear before the Senate, go through the process and be examined.

To someone unfamiliar with the McConnell-ese, that response might not have meant much, but it was a doozy for anyone familiar with the way the Kentucky Republican wields influence. On Sunday night, perhaps prompted by a since-deleted post on the platform formerly known as Twitter, the MAGAverse was going crazy over the suggestion that the Upper House was not on board with giving Trump a blank check on his own office.

If Trump fails to get the support he needs from a Republican-controlled Senate to confirm his polarizing picks, all that remains is the prospect of recess appointments to push through. It’s an idea that has led to some off-the-beaten-path fantasies. (The House should also recess, although the road map for allowing President Mike Johnson to arrange a Senate recess has too many pitfalls to be taken seriously.)

Privately, Republicans doubt whether resorting to widespread, or even unilateral, appointments is the best way for Trump to build his team for a second term or maintain the credibility of the Senate. But they are also preparing for a new White House without norms or traditions, with an eye turned toward vengeance and a leader who views any challenge as disloyalty deserving justice.

Still, at least when it comes to Cabinet nominees, no one should expect Thune to abdicate his role as protector. After all, he sat alongside McConnell for a long time studying the details of Senate history and tradition.

That's why so many insiders see McConnell's comments, both those confirmed and those questionably reported and then deleted from social media, as cover for others to quietly defect. Like House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, McConnell hopes to formally return to a core position within his party, but retain outsized influence on big questions of strategy, identity and ambition, although his party colleagues may complain about leaders who won't actually give up. power.

The Trump-McConnell animosity is never going to evaporate and is a useful foil for Thune to try to stay in Trump's good graces as long as possible. Asked last week about the possible use of recess meetings, Thune was careful in his choice of words and seemed very happy to let McConnell play the heavy role.

It's an option, he said, about letting the Senate recess long enough for Trump to install his picks for a term of about two years. But he was realistic about the math during his conversation with Fox News.

All Republicans must also vote in favor of the suspension. So the same Republicans who might have a hard time voting for someone under the normal order probably also have a hard time voting to suspend the Senate.

In short: it's really very unlikely that this will happen. Someone like Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska won't be willing to reject a Gaetz nomination by recorded vote, but will then send home for at least 10 days to give Trump a Supreme Court-guided window of a suspended legislature.

All of this is steeped in the experience of the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, McConnell. He has been less than circumspect about his skepticism of Trump or any other president, in effect relying on the procedural vacuum to stack the deck while lawmakers are away, that the tweet that ignited the wick may have been written in haste or by mistake.

Take, for example, Trump's 2018 demands that McConnell eliminate the 60-vote procedural hurdle to moving forward on most legislation. McConnell simply ignored the request, provoking even more anger from Trump, without causing any real harm to his power in the Senate. And when Joe Biden attempted to achieve the same result in 2022, McConnell once again simply acted as if the request had not landed on Capitol Hill.

This is expected to remain the same when Thune takes over in the next Congress. Most Republican lawmakers appeared to agree with that position, which served McConnell and his legacy well, even if it left Trump and Biden frustrated.

Therein lies the power of Senate inertia. Unlike Trump, the Senate is not standing aside. This tends to hold, which is why, at least in a historical context, Trump's views on unilateral Cabinet appointments don't really stand up to scrutiny. Opposing Trump is risky, but the bigger problem could come from trying to recalibrate the Senate to accommodate potential Cabinet picks that, so far, have sparked a mix of confusion, bewilderment and horror in the halls of the US Capitol.

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