The political capital President Donald Trump has been riding since his Election Day victory gave him the power to put together the cabinet he envisioned for his second term — but it's about to test the Republicans who ushered it in, the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board wrote.
It warned GOP members they will now have to accept whatever may come.
The analysis came just hours after the Republican-controlled Senate voted to confirm former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) standing as the lone GOP detractor.
“Republicans seem poised to confirm all of President Trump’s cabinet nominees, even those who favor policies most GOP Senators oppose,” the Journal's editors wrote Wednesday. “This is an impressive display of MAGA political muscle, but now the President and party will have to live with them. Good luck.”
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The assembly of the cabinet of Trump’s choice didn’t happen overnight, the board noted. It took the White House mobilizing its “MAGA media machine to threaten GOP senators who might have opposed Mr. Trump’s other nominees.”
But the Journal’s conservative editorial board appeared to save their biggest criticisms for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. They told readers it was “hard to believe” Kennedy would likely run HHS “given his left-wing views.”
The editors also bashed RFK’s anti-vaccine stance and predicted his political future before he’s even officially been confirmed into the position.
“Promising disruption is easy,” the editorial board concluded. “The test of a cabinet is whether it delivers results. Our guess for first one to muster out is RFK Jr.”