President-elect Trump’s first appointments
Jeff Sessions has been announced by the transition team as Trump’s pick for Attorney General.
It’s been obvious for a long time that Sessions was going to be part of the Trump administration; the only question was in what capacity. I had thought it might have something more directly to do with immigration—“immigration tsar” or something of the sort. But the post of AG certainly is connected with immigration, although its responsibilities are much broader than that
Sessions was an early and very important supporter of Trump, giving him the stamp of approval back in the days when not many respected Senate figures such as Sessions had come on board (actually, he was the first). He’s a very smart guy and not afraid to take unpopular positions (voted against the bank bailout, for example). Of course, the CNN article I linked at the start of this post manages to dredge up thirty-year old accusations of racism (CNN is not the only news outlet emphasizing the racism angle, either, which is also no surprise). You can find a further discussion of the substance or lack thereof of these allegations here. As you might imagine, in addition to their antiquity at this point, there really appears to be very little there there.
Most of us know Sessions as a senator. After all, he’s been a member of that body for almost twenty years. But prior to that (1995-1997) he was the AG for Alabama, and before that (1981-1993) he was the US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. So Attorney General is certainly a role for which he has relevant experience.
We’re probably going to get almost daily Trump appointment news from now on until the inauguration and for a few months after. I imagine some of these picks will be a lot more surprising than that of Jeff Sessions. The reported selection of Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn as National Security Advisor is not one of those surprises, however. Another Trump supporter with strong credentials including a background in intelligence matters (although of course the press emphasizes his controversies), he was an obvious choice.
Mike Pompeo is a good pick, too. I was less familiar with his credentials than those of the others, and hadn’t really seen much speculation about the CIA job for which he’s been named, but here’s a report on him:
Rep. Mike Pompeo, the Kansas congressman Donald Trump picked to lead the CIA, is a former Army officer and Harvard Law School graduate who is widely respected within the intelligence community for his intellect and his low key, analytical manner behind closed doors.
He also happens to be a conservative firebrand who sought to blame Hillary Clinton for the 2012 deaths of four Americans in Benghazi and vehemently opposed the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, which intelligence officials say has kept Iran’s nuclear weapons capability in check.
Still, many CIA insiders were breathing a sigh of relief over Pompeo’s ascension Friday, calling him the most favorable option among the many names the Trump team recently had floated.
All in all, I’d say those are three good choices. Trump’s picks are especially important for two reasons. The first is that each one gives us at least some small bit of information about what policy direction Trump will be likely to take as president. The second is that, with a president as inexperienced in government as Trump, it can be imagined (although we don’t know for sure) that Trump will be relying rather heavily on his appointees for information and advice.
[NOTE: Expect to see a lot more of this sort of thing from the MSM on the left, about Trump building a “team of racists.”]
Sessions surely has the votes lined up for confirmation. Many Dems will vote for him top; the Senate rarely crosses a fellow club member.
Pompeo did a nice job at the Bengazhi hearings. Also supposedly first in his class at West Point. A Jayhawker too. Excellent choice.
One thing to say – trump is moving fast on this.
I worry that he picks any more Senators – lest we risk losing a Senate majority.
I’m beginning to think that we may have a Trump with a “Prince Hal Syndrome” (Henry V was a loose canon in his youth but later was a wise and successful king).
I have my fingers crossed.
Big Maq:
I doubt that Alabama will elect a Democrat to replace Sessions.
Yes, three gé²od picks. And good points all.
A pundit on France 24 today was focussing on Teddy Kennedy’s accusations of Sessions’ racist background. It would be nice if te Euros got info about America from someone wo actually knows something about the country.
BTW, the national newspapers all seemed to have fronfpage photos of Obama and Merkel, and from what I could tell from glancing at te eadlines, tey all seemed to be fawning over BO. I can’t wait till e is gone.
Is there a Republican anywhere who is not racist? Rhetorical question.
We used to be told that racists were people who separated others into categories based on skin color–and if we were not racists, we would be color blind. When did that change? Another rhetorical question. It changed when it became advantageous to certain people to change it.
Some might say that if you are constantly accused of an attitude, you might just as well go on act on it. That’s said tongue in cheek, in case anyone wonders. But…
By the way; Sen Sessions has denied the allegations from 30 years ago. Interesting to see what, if any, documentation surfaces for the charges.
We are told that Gen Flynn was hard to work for. Really? Tut. Tut. I have seen a few of those. Some were respected, some were not. Some were effective, some were not. So, to those who criticize, I say, “What else have you got?”.
Off topic. Our esteemed leader has commented on the demonstrations, and encouraged them to continue–without qualification as to their nature. What a very small man.
Given the propaganda air support from the Alt Right, I wouldn’t worry much about charges of racism sinking these appointees.
Oldflyer
Some of the witnesses from that judicial confirmation hearing may now be deceased. It was about 30 years ago. That means maybe – and it is doubtful – that the transcript would be read into the record. Not great TV. Even a Republican AG has the right to confront witnesses against him. Anita Hill wanted to give secret testimony against Clarence Thomas. Not allowed.
Sessions has got this thing in the bag.
texexec, I was thinking of exactly that in the first few days after the election! I doubt we’ll get to “Hear him but reason in divinity”, but who knows.
Those of us who know Sessions well know he is a brave and principled man. He is raacist to Democrats simply because he is an Alabamian–talk about bias! Long ago, he prosecuted a white man for murdering a black boy, got conviction and the death penalty, and enforced that to execution as Alabama AG.
Sessions makes the GOPers like Ryan and McConnell look like little weenies. Jesse Helms is happy in heaven tonight.
If djt surrounds himself with highly capable people and listens to them he might make a good president. The listening part will be the hardest part.
Like Trump, Sessions is an authoritarian; no friend of freedom but not a racist. The MSM cannot use this though, since in principle they approve of authoritarians, so they smear him as a racist and ignore a perfectly good and true criticism.