In rubber-stamping Trump’s unqualified cabinet nominees, Dave McCormick fails his oath of office | Editorial
Pennsylvania's junior senator must show he is willing to put the Constitution first. His vote for Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense bodes ill.
Anyone in need of a further reminder that elections have consequences can look to Pennsylvania’s new U.S. senator, Dave McCormick.
McCormick cast what essentially amounted to the deciding vote last week to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense. As the British say, Hegseth is not qualified to run a whelk stall, let alone the government’s largest agency, with three million employees and a budget of $849 billion.
Hegseth’s prior notoriety was as a weekend anchor at Fox News, where he bloviated about anti-woke hysteria. His military experience extends to 13 years served in the National Guard, where he was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and rose to the rank of major before getting flagged as an “insider threat” because of tattoos that are linked to white supremacists.
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Supporters said Hegseth was a decorated veteran, but his two bronze stars and other commendations were common among military officers. Hegseth, 44, later ran two small military nonprofits but was forced to step down from both because of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.
Hegseth’s alleged excessive drinking and sexual carousing — two other disqualifying red flags — overshadowed his utter lack of experience needed to run the Defense Department.
McCormick’s vote for Hegseth is all the more reckless given Pennsylvania’s junior senator graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and served in the 82nd Airborne Division. During McCormick’s Senate campaign, he talked up the West Point motto of “duty, honor, country.”
But in his first big test in the Senate, McCormick failed his military roots. He put subservience to Donald Trump above the country. McCormick’s fellow soldiers who risk their lives to defend the nation deserve better than an unqualified reprobate leading the Defense Department.
Pennsylvanians who voted against former Sen. Bob Casey may have ultimately put the country at risk by installing a lackey. Voters will get more evidence this week whether McCormick will put the country first or be a rubber stamp for Trump, as two other unfit nominees are up for confirmation votes.
Kash Patel is unqualified to oversee the FBI. Patel has made clear his allegiance is to Trump and not the Constitution or the rule of law. He promoted debunked lies about the 2020 election being stolen, and promised to go after judges, lawyers, and journalists who he claims — without any evidence — improperly investigated Trump.
Also, like Hegseth, Patel lacks basic experience to run the FBI. The FBI is on the front lines when it comes to defending the country against domestic terrorists, drug traffickers, violent criminals, and white-collar crooks. But instead of keeping the country safe, Patel — who published a “deep state” enemies list — is focused on aiding and abetting Trump’s political grievances.
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, a vitally important job that oversees all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency and the CIA. But there is one problem: Gabbard lacks relevant experience in intelligence gathering.
More than 100 national security officials signed a letter questioning Gabbard’s ability to assess and deliver unbiased intelligence.
National security experts are particularly concerned about Gabbard’s unexplained meetings with ousted Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad. Gabbard has also parroted propaganda spewed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, further raising concerns about whose side she is on.
Trump and his nominees appear hell-bent on undermining the country’s defense, intelligence gathering, and the rule of law.
McCormick, on the other hand, swore an oath just a few weeks ago to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Will McCormick or any other Republican senators uphold their oath, or will they continue to just do whatever Trump wants?