Ethics Paperwork Threatens To Derail Trump’s Cabinet Picks

Republicans in the Senate have said that they want fast and easy confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, but it doesn’t look like they are going to get their wish. Paperwork delays with both ethics forms and FBI background checks have prevented Republicans from even being able to schedule confirmation hearings for everyone except Pete Hegseth. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains what’s happening. Link – https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5064569-trump-nominees-delay-senate/ Subscribe to stay connected to our stories: https://www.youtube.com/theringoffire Support us by becoming a member on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWIEbibRcZav6xMLo9qWWw/join Or Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRingofFire Buy Ring of Fire merch: https://www.buyrof.com/ Find us on social media! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RingofFireRadio Twitter: https://twitter.com/RingofFireMedia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ringoffirenetwork/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ringoffiremedia *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Republicans in the United States Senate are now pushing for Donald Trump's nominees for his cabinet picks to be pushed through immediately. We gotta get these people in place. They tell us, because as Lindsey Graham said, this past weekend, the nation is at war. We're under attack and we're under siege. Those are all three things. Graham said this past weekend, we're at war, we're under attack, we're under siege. And all of that, of course is because one lunatic committed an act of domestic terrorism, an American, by the way, on New Year's Eve, and they're now using that attack as an excuse to just push through all of Trump's nominees. We gotta have these people in place. They tell us. And the biggest holdup to confirming Donald Trump's nominees is actually Donald Trump's own incompetence. Because as much as Republicans would love to just push all these people through with no vetting, no FBI checks, no ethics pledges or anything, they can't. And because Donald Trump's team dragged their feet on one, getting the FBI to even start background checks, 'cause they initially refused, they initially said, we're not gonna let the FBI do any background checks. We're gonna hire our own firm to do it. And then they were reminded that, hey, um, the FBI kind of has to do it in order to get these people's security clearances. So they said, okay, fine. But that was after like a month of preventing the FBI from doing it. And secondly, there's those ethics pledges because they're not just pledges like, Hey, I'll be a good boy. No, they're actually legal documents that you are required by law to sign before any of that other stuff can even take place. The background checks and all of it. And Trump didn't wanna sign it. He put it off for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. So did his transition team. So instead of being able to get these people through confirmation super quick, Donald Trump may have put them behind by a month or more. 'cause he didn't wanna play by the rules. He didn't want the FBI probe in these people. He didn't want the background checks to happen. And now Republicans find themself in a very awkward position because they wanna get Trump stuff done, but they can't because of the paperwork delays that these agencies are now finding themselves under. The only person as of right now that has a confirmation hearing on the agenda that is actually scheduled is Pete Hegseth for January 14th. So we've got Hegseth. And then again, as of this recording, nobody else is even on the calendar. Nobody but delay does not mean they're not gonna get in. As I mentioned, Republicans are Already using that attack in New Orleans as an excuse to overlook all the horrific activities these people have been accused of and tell us that they just need to be confirmed no matter what. Earlier I was convinced, you know, a month ago, hell, two weeks ago, a week ago maybe, I was convinced that some of these Trump picks were not gonna make it through. I no longer have that optimism. I think they're all gonna make it through. Even people like Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Kosh Patel, they're all gonna get in. I, I'm, I'm telling you that right now, after what happened on New Year's Day or New Year's Eve, excuse me, they're all in. We can't stop it. We don't have the power to do that. The Democrats don't have the numbers to do it. So the only thing we can hope is that these people who, again, confirmations are gonna be delayed, but they're not gonna be denied. So the only thing we can hope is that they are not able to inflict the damage on this count country that they are poised to inflict. Right. I know that sounds grim. I know it's not exactly a reason to be optimistic, but at this point expect the worst, but hope for the best.