Senators-- Democratic Senators-- Who Vote To Confirm Trump's New Cabinet Garbage Are Voting For Torture As A Legitimate Policy

Revolving Door by Nancy Ohanian

The Trump White Mad House is still a chaotic mess, in complete turmoil orchestrated my the fool Putin placed there. Supposedly, at least according to the Wall Street Journal John Kelly is staying on-- for now-- as chief of staff. H.R. McMaster, on the other hand, will be replaced as soon as Trump can persuade someone to take the job. This week a West Wing staffer in Señor Trumpanzee's White House was widely quoted saying that "This is the most toxic working environment on the planet... There's no leadership, no trust, no direction and at this point there's very little hope." Other heads on the chopping block-- reputations ruined because of their collaboration with the fascist clown-- include Ben Carson, David Shulkin, Steven Mnuchin, Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos, Ryan Zinke and Vanessa Trump, estranged wife of Trumpanzee Jr., and others who have been using taxpayer dollars to live like royalty.

At least a half-dozen current or former Trump Cabinet officials have been mired in federal investigations over everything from high-end travel and spending on items such as a soundproof phone booth to the role of family members weighing in on official business. On Wednesday alone, newly disclosed documents revealed fresh details about spending scandals at both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

...The controversies surrounding members of Trump’s Cabinet have caused upheaval within the administration, prompting White House officials to scramble in an effort to avert any further political fallout and to summon agency leaders for face-to-face ethics meetings.

Meanwhile, Señor Trumpanzee is using Ivanka as a substitute for fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. CNN and Politico are both reporteing that Trump could have trouble getting new appointments confirmed. CNN was mild, reporting that Trumpanzee's "appetite for an ambitious shake-up of his Cabinet and other key advisers is already facing headwinds from inside his own administration and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. Trump's nominee to run the CIA, Gina Haspel, is causing heartburn among Senate Republicans because of her role in overseeing an interrogation and detention program. Meanwhile, at least one Republican and a handful of Democrats in the narrowly divided Senate are already planning to oppose Mike Pompeo, Trump's nominee to succeed Rex Tillerson, who the President fired Tuesday from his post as secretary of state. There is also some trepidation among the national security establishment about the potential of hardliner John Bolton replacing H.R. McMaster, whose fate as national security adviser is in doubt, according to several sources. And some top Senate Republicans are warning the White House of overburdening lawmakers with too many nominations. 'With everything else we have to do around here, having the prospect of two additional confirmation fights perhaps is going to be a challenge,' said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican." Politico went much further with the idea of the Democrats actually being able to block the worst of the dreck Trump wants to bring into government.

The White House was hoping for a smooth 2018 on Capitol Hill. Instead, President Donald Trump is staring at two bitter confirmation fights-- and the possibility emboldened Democrats could block his new Cabinet nominees.

Trump’s decision to nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson at the State Department-- and to elevate Pompeo’s controversial deputy Gina Haspel, who hasn’t previously been confirmed-- has created a pair of high-stakes battles in the Senate, where the GOP enjoys a threadbare 51-49 advantage.

With Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opposing both nominees and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) absent while he undergoes treatment for brain cancer, Trump will need Democrats to support his picks.

The looming struggle to get Cabinet replacements through underscores just how much the political calculus has changed for Trump since the early days of his administration, as Democrats look ahead to the midterms and throw off any semblance of cooperation with the White House.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, supported Pompeo to be CIA director, as did 14 of his colleagues in the minority. Democrats say Pompeo will fall far short of that-- if he gets any Democratic support at all.

“Both of them have serious questions to answer and neither confirmation is a sure thing,” Schumer told Politico in a statement.

Republicans agree that failed confirmation votes are a real possibility.

...Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Z), who serves on the Foreign Relations panel, has been privately cited by Democrats as a potential flip vote on both Pompeo and Haspel. A vocal Trump critic, he said he’s “looking into” Haspel’s record and wants to hear willingness from Pompeo to break with Trump on Russia.

“We need people who will stand up to the president, frankly, on some of these issues. I want to make sure he’s willing to do that,” Flake said in an interview.

...Trump’s demonstrated preference for unorthodox figures could leave some Democrats inclined to accept the pair, who few would label unqualified even if they disagree with them on policy.

Republicans also have the advantage of a cadre of Democratic senators facing reelection in 2018 in states Trump easily won: Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. All four voted to confirm Pompeo at the CIA.

...Short of blocking the picks altogether, Democrats could still cause serious headaches for the White House throughout the process.

“The biggest danger for the White House is that both of these people are coming from inside the administration and are going to be asked to talk about what’s happened inside the administration during their confirmation hearings,” said Matthew Miller, who helped shepherd former Attorney General Eric Holder through his confirmation hearings and joined him at DOJ as a spokesman.

He pointed as an example to a Washington Post report from June 2017 that Trump complained to Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats early in his presidency about then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the Russia probe.

If Pompeo refuses to address that conversation, Democrats could use that as justification for voting against him, Miller said, since such questions go to how Pompeo reacted to presidential pressure while leading the CIA.

“If you invoke executive privilege at your oversight hearing, there’s nothing the senators can do to you,” Miller said. “In a confirmation hearing, you can lose votes over it.”

Is it a "purity test" to support and vote for Democrats who are not going to help block garbage nominees like Haspel and Bolton to influential posts? Fake Democrats like Heitkamp, McCaskill and Manchin are going to make the difference whether or not the U.S. goes back to torturing people.