Posted on 11/12/2016 5:26:33 AM PST by GonzoII
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
I’ll just say this for starters: I have no idea who President-elect Donald Trump will chose for his Cabinet. Many names have been bantered around by the press, some may come to fruition, others not. Regardless, here are my two cents on what I believe would be an unstoppable Trump administration:
Department of Homeland Security: Texas Rep. Mike McCaul
Mr. McCaul, who is head of the House Homeland Security Committee, has been an avid Trump supporter and has the experience to take on the agency he’s been overseeing. In his speech at the Republican National Convention this summer, Mr. McCaul said Mr. Trump’s presidency would “shake the ground” terrorists walk on and has criticized President Barack Obama’s policy on the Islamic State as being tone-deaf. He has a strong position on Russia, telling Mr. Trump they are “no friends of ours,” and has been at the forefront in calling for increased cybersecurity measures.
Defense: Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions
Mr. Sessions — who has supported Mr. Trump from the beginning — served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve for 13 years and currently sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Being a veteran on Capitol Hill, he can navigate the political waters of the Pentagon better than, say, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, whose name is also being floated.
Attorney General: South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
What a dream. Not sure she would do it, but a great fantasy.
No Gowdy as AG. For whatever reasons he was beyond ineffective in his role in Congress. Rudy for AG.
Kellyanne is a great surrogate, but much more strategic than a basic PR mouthpiece.
She should be a senior political advisor and head of communications altogether.
Too many congress critters in here. Very much a DC view of things.
Oh, and yuck—Trump doesn’t need someone like Christie as chief of staff. Steve Bannon would be perfect.
And no, I don’t trust Cruz on the SC.
Agree the liberals would explode.
Leni
Gowdy was effective in conducting the congressional investigation. He was as effective as you can possibly be without having actual prosecutorial authority. DOJ has to prosecute and that wasn’t going to happen. The system was purposely set up to divide authority that way - separation of powers. Its like a dog that can only bark, but can’t bite. Another dog has to do the biting, that dog was busy with a chewy.
Now what he was a failure at was the PR part of it, but most Republicans suck at dealing with the media!
That all being said Gowdy should stay in Congress, Rudy should be AG.
You broke FR rule: /must add pic/
Not in the least. Gowdy and his crew just got soundbites.
And the House does indeed have powers — from special prosecutors to impeachment to Contempt of Congress, arrest powers, and the Capitol jail.
My guess is that Gowdy is compromised—which is why the uniparty gave him the position to start with.
Yeah your right I’m wrong
Good picks, though I think it would be a hoot to have Diamond and Silk as joint press secretaries.
Just thought about this - Michelle Bachman was a tax attorney before becoming a congress woman - what about her for head of the IRS?
A few ground rules:
Republican senators can only be chosen from Republican controlled states. Even so, they must be used optimally for one of two purposes: to conduct enormous reforms in government agencies (plural), or to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
Importantly, if a Democrat senator is at odds with his caucus, and comes from a Republican state, he might be tapped for a less critical role. It would give him a political life beyond his party, but it would also switch his seat to Republican.
President Trump will have to “arm twist” both the senate and the house to get what he wants. Since McConnell will likely remain majority leader, he will probably charge President Trump a premium to get what he wants.
Top priority will be to get a SCOTUS nominee that McConnell will support, and even obstruct Democrat efforts to derail. This will have a huge price tag.
Good—I’m wrong on enough as it is!
;-)
Since you cited impeachment, consider:
So you really think a Ryan (I guess it was Boehner then!) led House would have voted impeachment on Hillary (or any Zero appointed Rat!)? And you really think that you would have gotten 30 some Rats to cross over and vote for removal?
Now back to something slightly more plausible but only slightly!:
1) The special prosecutor law was changed thanks to Rat abuse, if I remember it right both Congress and the President have to come to an agreement on its need & who to appoint. Not likely to happen! (There is more to it then this, I don’t have time to look up the details.)
2) Due to separation of powers all Congress can do is investigate - gather information. Congress can’t prosecute, DOJ does that. Again in the Zero administration not likely to happen and didn’t. Yes Congress can authorize the Sergeant-at-Arms to compel someone to appear, they even used to have a holding cell. They can charge someone with contempt! They did that to Holder I believe over the “Fast & Furious” investigation. It didn’t even scratch his paint!
I understand your frustration but Gowdy did what he could do and did it well given Constitutional limitations & GOP respect for the law. The other side is not constrained by such things. If you want to fault him, fault him over incompetent PR, something almost all GOP’ers suck at.
All that being said let Gowdy stay in the House. Rudy for AG, maybe appoint a special prosecutor for it. This time you have all the ‘governmental tools’ and maybe the political mandate to do it.
Gowdy is going home, I believe—maybe to run for governor.
If Gowdy had got to the bottom of enough and brought out enough evidence to sway the public he would have had backing there. Or, he could have gone after any of the many who have committed perjury in front of his committees, or refused to testify.
He was totally teethless while grandstanding left and right. And again I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure the House has (limited) prosecutory powers of its own—besides impeachment.
Limited to non-existence, particular when dealing with this crowd! The House of Representatives is not the House of Lords.
Congressional investigations are all about “grandstanding” I.e.PR, and Gowdy sucked at it!
3. Convene all the Republican Governors and have their legislatures each implement awarding Electoral Votes by Congressional District, breaking the Metropolitan areas hold that throws the state into Democratic hands.
Here's some maps for consideration:
Consider how even this blowout Electoral Vote would have looked if that had been in place. Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, etc. could all come in with 110% of the registered voters and still on get only one vote instead of the whole works.
Maine and Nebraska have taken a similar approach. These states allocate two Electoral Votes to the popular vote winner, and then one each to the popular vote winner in each Congressional district (2 in Maine, 3 in Nebraska) in their state. This creates multiple popular vote contests in these states, which could lead to a split Electoral Vote instead of the "all-or-nothing" as is done now.
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