2024-12-05
27 分钟Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with senators, trying to salvage his nomination to be the next defense secretary. His nomination is hanging by a thread amid a drip, drip, drip of sordid details about his very messy personal life. But if Hegseth does manage to win Senate confirmation, he'd oversee the largest U.S. government agency with a nearly $900 billion budget. Paul McLeary, Pentagon and national security reporter for Politico, breaks down the job of the defense secretary and how Hegseth fits into President-elect Trump's larger vision for national security. There's a lot of hand-wringing about where Democrats went wrong and why they lost the White House. And a big part of that conversation is how the party lost the support of many working-class voters while Trump gained ground. Max Alvarez, Editor-in-Chief of The Real News Network, talks about the shift among the voting bloc. And in headlines: The Supreme Court appeared poised to side with Tennessee over its law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, Trump moves to have his Georgia election interference case dismissed, and Senators grilled airline executives over excessive fees.
It's Thursday, December 5th.
I'm Jane Costen and this is what a day.
The show that, unlike Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk, doesn't need to bring its mom along for emotional support at big meetings.
Here's a if you're old enough to have meetings, you are too old to bring your mom to them.
On today's show, senators grill airline executives over junk fees and Trump is trying to get yet another case against him dismissed.
Let's get into it.
Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth President elect Donald Trump's pick to run the Pentagon was on Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with senators.
He's doing whatever damage control he can to try and salvage his nomination for defense secretary and ease senators fears over the ballooning scandal around his very, very messy personal life.
Hegseth told reporters that Trump said keep fighting for the job.
That's what Donald Trump asked me to do.
Your job is to bring a war fighting ethos back to the Pentagon.
Your job is to make sure that it's lethality, lethality, lethality.
Everything else is gone.
Everything else that distracts from that shouldn't be happening.
That's the message I'm hearing from senators in that advise and consent process.
And it's been a wonderful process.
But Higseth's nomination is hanging by a thread.
Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters some of his Republican colleagues privately oppose him.
I've talked to five to 10 Republicans who have said to me they're just waiting for the right moment to say no to PTEs.
And in the background, Trump is already considering other names to run the pentagon, including his 2024 primary opponent and best frenemy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.