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I read with increasing alarm what appears to be a coordinated smear campaign by former members of the Obama administration and their ivory tower proxies, taking aim in the now-partisan press (including the New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR) to undermine the reputation of strategic theorist Dr. Sebastian Gorka. Gorka has risen to prominence over this very same period after his appointment to serve as deputy assistant to President Donald Trump. Without a drop of evidence, these critics have unfairly ridiculed Gorka’s fine scholarship and academic background, ignoring his many contributions to the literature of warfare over many years....

The New York Times is reporting that State Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) is under consideration by President Trump to be named Secretary of the Army. Senior admin official confirms Mark Green is being considered for secretary of the Army. — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 15, 2017 Several sources have independently confirmed this report to The Tennessee Star. Green is considered a front runner in the race for the Republican nomination for Governor of Tennessee in 2018. Should he not run, there will no longer be a strongly conservative candidate in the race to challenge Randy Boyd and potential candidate Rep....

<p>Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has withdrawn retired senior diplomat Anne W. Patterson as his choice for undersecretary for policy after the White House indicated unwillingness to fight what it said would be a battle for Senate confirmation.</p> <p>U.S. officials said that two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), were strongly opposed to Patterson’s nomination because she served as U.S. ambassador to Egypt from 2011 to 2013, a time when the Obama administration supported an elected government with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood that was ultimately overthrown by the Egyptian military.</p>

The Trump administration is contemplating even deeper cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget than what’s already been reported by news outlets. President Donald Trump’s budget proposal called for cutting EPA’s budget 25 percent, or $2 billion, and reducing the agency’s workforce 20 percent, or 3,000 employees. EPA global warming programs, grants to environmental groups and state grants are reportedly on the chopping block. But now the White House is mulling even deeper cuts, a source familiar with budget talks told Axios. The source told Axios “[s]enior Trump officials consider the EPA the leading edge of the administration’s plans...

President Trump Meets With His Cabinet

Last night President Trump had a lengthy dinner and conversation with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in advance of several upcoming foreign emissary visits to the White House, and T-Rex’s strategic trip to Asia. Today President Trump took Secretary Kelly (DHS), Secretary Ross (Commerce), Secretary Mnuchin (Treasury), Secretary Shulkin (VA), together with their spouses to Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. Accompanying the cabinet group was key staff: Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. However, word of President Trump going to his National Golf Club in Virginia immediately sent The Hill into...

In a move that will likely provoke further media, and pundit, fury, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked all remaining Obama-appointed U.S. Attorneys for their resignation. Sarah Isgur Flores, Director of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice, released the following statement: "As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice. The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition. Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated...

Seema Verma, President Donald Trump's nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (AP Photo/File) Washington -- Indian-American Seema Verma moved a step closer to being confirmed as the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as a bitterly divided US Senate voted 54-44, mostly on party lines, to end a debate on her nomination. The final confirmation vote on her nomination has been scheduled for Monday evening (March 13). The Senate vote to end the debate came moments after the White House blamed the opposition Democratic lawmakers for blocking the nomination of for the...

In an unscripted talk to employees, newly minted Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson referred to slaves as immigrants, and the outrage was fast and furious. Two sample tweets: OK!! Ben Carson …. I can't! Immigrants? In the bottom of SLAVE SHIPS??!! MUTHAF(….)A PLEASE!!!#dickheadedtom — Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) March 6, 2017 This can't be real. Slaves were not & are not immigrants. 2017. — Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 6, 2017 Whoopi Goldberg, the NAACP and a multitude of others expressed their outrage in similar terms. Huffington Post's Jason Linkins said Carson's remark "makes one wonder how far the...

A new report suggests that former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm would have been a top candidate for secretary of education in Hillary Clinton’s cabinet had the Democratic nominee won the presidential election. Mike Allen of the recently launched news site Axios reported on Tuesday that Clinton had prepared her “ghost cabinet” list before Election Day. Granholm also was listed as the second choice for attorney general if sitting Attorney General Loretta Lynch were not retained by a Clinton administration. John Sexton, former president of New York University and former board member of the Federal Reserve, was listed second as...

Peter Thiel has been at Donald Trump’s side since the Republican National Convention, guiding the then-candidate on technology policy and brokering a meeting between him and top tech executives. Now Thiel has secured a place for one of his top aides in Trump’s White House — Michael Kratsios, formerly chief of staff at Thiel Capital, will step into the role of deputy chief technology officer. The appointment, first reported by Politico Pro and confirmed by TechCrunch, seems like a natural progression of Kratsios’ work alongside Thiel on the transition team. Prior to his work at Thiel Capital, Kratsios was the...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign in the wake of a report that he had contact with the Russian ambassador last year and did not disclose it to senators during the confirmation process. Schumer said it's "better for the country if he resigns," but that the most important thing is that a real investigation takes place. "Has it already been compromised?" Schumer asked.

Ben Carson is now officially confirmed as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, following the Senate vote Thursday morning. The approval locks in one of the few remaining cabinet members left to be approved. The Senate floor voted the day before on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Carson, passing the vote 62-37. The significant majority vote gave Carson a likely green light to be confirmed on Thursday. Despite a controversial start to his nomination, it turned out to be all bark and no bite as his hearing went fairly smooth. The former neurosurgeon...

Support for Gorka not waning in Trump White House in light of media attacks Obama administration holdovers and loyalists are waging a leak-driven media campaign against a senior counter-terrorism adviser hand-picked by President Donald Trump, with the aim of undermining the Trump administration's national security apparatus, according to multiple senior White House officials and sources close to the administration. Sebastian Gorka, a longtime national security expert profiled by senior editor Bill Gertz in today's Free Beacon, has been the subject of multiple leaks and negative stories portraying him as a bigot as part of a campaign similar to the one...

The Senate voted Monday to confirm billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as secretary of commerce in President Trump's Cabinet. Ross was approved by a vote of 72-27, with 20 Democrats and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, joining 51 Republicans to vote "aye." Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., did not vote due to his ongoing recovery from back surgery. The Senate later voted 67-31 to move forward on the nomination of Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., to lead the Interior Department. A final vote on Zinke's confirmation could occur on Tuesday or Wednesday. Ross is the 14th member of Trump's Cabinet to be cofirmed, with...

On Friday, The Forward published an article by Lili Bayer arguing that Sebastian "Seb" Gorka, the deputy assistant to President Trump and a frequent presence on television and radio, was linked to anti-Semitic right-wing extremists in Hungary. Using the logic of six degrees of separation, Bayer argued that Gorka was anti-Semitic, never mind that the 3,000-word report did not cite a single instance of Gorka's alleged anti-Semitism. The whole piece smacks of a political hatchet job. Eli Clifton, a blogger fired by the Center for American Progress — the think tank at the heart of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, and...

"President Donald Trump's nominee for Navy secretary, Philip Bilden, has withdrawn his name from consideration. Bilden said in a statement he informed Defense Secretary James Mattis of his decision."...

After crushing the establishment and delivering a series of blows to globalism, President Donald Trump's winning spree against the powerful forces that opposed him appears to be slowing down. In fact, with his recent selection of Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser and Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court — both of whom have been listed as members of the establishment globalist swamp known as the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) — concerns are growing even among Trump supporters and grassroots conservative activists. There were already several CFR-linked officials before the latest additions — the very same forces...

President Trump has succeeded in picking the most conservative Cabinet of the modern era, and possibly ever, even besting the team put together by former President Reagan, according to a scorecard from the American Conservative Union, host of the annual CPAC convention. ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp told Secrets that Trump's team, made up in part with House and Senate lawmakers graded by the group over the years, has a 91.52 percent conservative rating, significantly surpassing Reagan's by 28 points.