Pete Hegseth is your next Secretary of Defense.

Nothing from Tuesday’s contentious hearing will likely pluck GOP votes away from him. If anything the histrionics of the Democrats on the panel will make it harder for skeptical Republicans to stray.

The way you collapse a nominee when you are in the minority is you give them enough rope to hang themselves. Ask cordial questions that elevate in complexity and hope they screw something up. That is the most likely possibility with Trump’s slate who are being painted as unready and unprepared.

They did not do that.

Instead we got screeds on Hegseth’s personal history, financial management and his opinion of women.

What standing does a Republican Senator have if he is on the side of Sen. Tim Kaine taking the moral high road on infidelity?

That being said, even if the Democrats had played a more strategic hand it looks like the GOP had effectively closed ranks. The lynchpin of a potential washout was Iowa’s Joni Ernst and she spent the first portion of her time discussing the importance of a Pentagon audit (the upside of finding someone from outside the traditional drafting grounds for SecDef since DoD has routinely failed audits) and then played home run derby pitcher on the subject of women in the military.

Yesterday, Hegseth was the most vulnerable of Trump’s nominees. Today, betting markets pin that honor on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.

But if the Republicans are on the same page the Democrats are going to take this seriously, then I would bet on the full slate sailing through.

Also, on the this podcast…

Jen Briney, host of Congressional Dish, joins to discuss the stakes of these hearings and the ideological divides within Trump’s coalition.

Dave Levinthal, the money man, is back to discuss Kamala Harris 24 continuing to charge donors months after losing.

Chapters

* 00:00:00 - Episode Introduction and Live Show Announcement

* 00:01:35 - Pete Hegseth's Confirmation Hearing Analysis

* 00:10:17 - Breakdown of Trump’s Coalition Cabinet

* 00:21:00 - Marco Rubio’s Focus on Foreign Policy

* 00:30:00 - Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel: Challenges and Prospects

* 00:43:10 - Upcoming Events and Political Updates

* 00:52:49 - Dave Levinthal

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