Trump appointees

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I was disturbed to put it mildly by Bondi’s non answer but realized that this is a lost cause.
The constitution had a remedy that was not followed. The Senate could have convicted him and barred him from running for office again but failed.

Prosecutors could have kept on prosecuting after Trump won but seemingly unanimously believed doing so would be unconstitutional even though nothing in the constitution specifically does not prohibit it. But those with a lot more knowledge the me disagree with me.

The last chance to hold Trump accountable was the voters. We had the Democrats and Never Trump Republicans and the mainstream media bringing up this issue for four straight years(remember the “spectacular” televised Congressional hearings?). Voters who agreed that the election was stolen and other voters who thought Trump’s actions were bad but other issues were more important combined to set a precedent of getting bigly rewarded for trying to overturn an election. All we can do is live with the consequences of that precedent.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's nominated to become the next health secretary, asked the federal government to revoke its authorization of all COVID-19 vaccines in May 2021, just as vaccinated Americans began returning to a sense of normalcy after pandemic lockdowns.

The request came via a citizen petition filed by Kennedy and Meryl Nass on behalf of Children's Health Defense, a group founded by Kennedy that advocates against the recommended vaccine schedule for children.

The petition, first reported by the New York Times, asked the Food and Drug Administration to "revoke Emergency Use Authorizations for existing COVID vaccines and refrain from approving and licensing them.

It came five months after then-President Donald Trump proudly announced the FDA's green light of the vaccine was imminent.

The FDA denied the petition in its response three months later, saying it found "no basis" in the petition to pull the vaccines from the market.

In December 2021, Kennedy falsely claimed the COVID-19 vaccine was "the deadliest vaccine ever made."

Days before Kennedy filed his May 2021 petition, the CDC had just announced that fully vaccinated Americans could go without masks because it believed at the time immunization reduced a person's infectiousness. The agency would later reverse that decision after outbreaks occurred involving vaccinated individuals.

Pressed by an NBC interviewer in November whether he would have blocked the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine had he been in government at the time, Kennedy said, "I wouldn't have directly blocked it."

"I would have made sure that we had the best science, and there was no effort to do that at that time," he said.

The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.

Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0.

Marco Rubio is a very intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy,” Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior-most Republican, said as the chamber opened.

It’s often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new president’s team in place, particularly the national security officials.

The Senate voted Thursday to confirm John Ratcliffe as the next CIA director under President Donald Trump, approving the second high-level appointment for the new administration.

The vote was 74-25 in favor of Ratcliffe, a former congressman from Texas who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence for the last eight months of his first term. Twenty-one Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in supporting Ratcliffe's nomination.

Republican leaders failed to achieve unanimous support to fast-track Ratcliffe's nomination to the floor earlier this week and had to jump through some procedural hoops.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he opposed Ratcliffe “not because of our political difference, which of course exists — but because I am deeply worried that Mr. Ratcliffe will be unable to stand up to people like Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, who are known to falsify intelligence. As CIA Director, Mr. Ratcliffe will have to make decisions based on intelligence and fact.”

During his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe promised to keep politics out of decisions involving intelligence and said he wouldn't use loyalty tests as a basis for hiring or firing CIA personnel.

In May 2020, Ratcliffe was confirmed to be Trump's DNI by a narrow vote in the Senate of 49-44, facing sweeping Democratic opposition due to concerns about his qualifications and concerns about exaggerating national security credentials on his resume

The Senate on Thursday voted to advance Pete Hegseth's nomination to be President Donald Trump's defense secretary, putting him on a path to final confirmation at the end of the week.

The vote was 51 to 49, with just two Republicans — moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine — voting with all 47 Democrats to try to block Hegseth. He needed a simple majority to advance to a final vote.

Shortly before the vote, Murkowski became the first Republican to publicly oppose Hegseth's nomination, saying that some of the past behavior he has admitted to demonstrates a "lack of judgment" and is "unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces."

After the vote, Collins said she had raised concerns directly to Hegseth about his past comments that women should not serve in combat roles.

In his confirmation hearing, Hegseth walked those comments back, telling senators he supports women serving in combat as long as standards remain high. But Collins said in her statement she is "not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed."

Still, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who has guided Hegseth through the process, declared after the vote that Hegseth will be confirmed on Friday. Asked about Murkowski and Collins opposing him, Wicker said, “I was not surprised, and I do understand.”