This is an adapted excerpt from the Nov. 23 episode of “Velshi.”
With less than 60 days until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, his administration is taking shape. So far, Trump has named all 15 heads of executive departments and many other top administration posts for the start of his second term.
He chose anti-vaxxers and skeptics of science, a fossil fuel executive and allies of the oil and gas industry, people with little to no experience in leading large organizations, people with reported ties to Christian nationalist groups and ideologies, and several people who want to implement aggressive deregulation plans.
Trump has learned from his first term in office and is stepping into this second term with an eye toward removing every guardrail that stood in the way.
All of that could spell trouble and result in lasting damage to public health, the climate, the environment, national security, foreign policy and the basic functioning of our federal government. There’s a lot at stake, and it would be naïve to think that Trump might be more restrained this time around.
But, small though it may be, we’ve also just witnessed the first defeat of Trump 2.0, the first successful pushback against his agenda, which came when Matt Gaetz was forced to withdraw his name from consideration for attorney general.
Gaetz stepped back as details continued to be reported about the sexual misconduct allegations that he had faced and continues to deny. That’s on top of the fact that he’s one of the least-liked people on Capitol Hill — a firebrand who irked many of his former colleagues.
Not even Vice President-elect JD Vance could help him rehabilitate his reputation enough to salvage his chance of becoming the next attorney general — setting aside the simple fact that he is grossly unqualified for that position in the first place. Shortly after Gaetz and Vance spent a day meeting with senators on Capitol Hill to gauge Gaetz’s chances of being confirmed, the former Florida congressman dropped out.
NBC News reported that there were at least five Republican senators who were firmly opposed to his bid for attorney general: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and MarkWayne Mullin, and Sen.-elect John Curtis. At least 20, and as many as 30, Republican senators were uncomfortable with the prospect of having to vote to confirm Gaetz for the role.
This suggests that there are still some safeguards in place that could be deployed against presidential overreach. In this case, the Senate acted as a bulwark. It took its constitutional responsibility of advice and consent seriously and prevented an unserious and unqualified candidate from even being formally nominated.
But we also learned some lessons from Trump’s first term. We learned that pressure works and minds can be changed. Come January, Trump will regain the most powerful office in the world and he will undoubtedly wield his influence more forcefully once he’s back in the White House. His party will also control both the House and the Senate for at least the next two years. But it’s not the overwhelming mandate that they’d like you to believe. Their majorities in both chambers of Congress are narrow and precarious — and we know how dysfunctional they can be as a caucus. And we know something else: Trump has certainly learned from his first term in office and is stepping into this second term with an eye toward removing every guardrail that stood in the way of his lawless impulses before. But we also learned some lessons from Trump’s first term. We learned that pressure works and minds can be changed, that ordinary Americans can raise their voices and that whistleblowers can shine light in the shadows. We learned that there are quiet, capable career government employees and military personnel who can muster great bravery in order to speak out and push back. On Nov. 5, we learned that the Trump era of American politics is not over and that the work to win back democracy from the brink is not done. Now, it’s time to figure out what that work looks like. Allison Detzel contributed.
Ali Velshi is the host of “Velshi,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays on MSNBC. He has been awarded the National Headliner Award for Business & Consumer Reporting for “How the Wheels Came Off,” a special on the near collapse of the American auto industry. His work on disabled workers and Chicago’s red-light camera scandal in 2016 earned him two News and Documentary Emmy Award nominations, adding to a nomination in 2010 for his terrorism coverage.
Jimson Rodriguez
Jimson Rodriguez is a Segment Producer for "Velshi."
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