Chuck Schumer wanted to wage war against Secret of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth
But his plan hasn’t worked out like he expected.
And Chuck Schumer made one terrible mistake in this fight against Pete Hegseth that will cost him dearly.
Chuck Schumer fights the last war against Donald Trump’s nominees
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is powerless to stop the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
He told Senate Democrats to create fireworks at confirmation hearings and turn them into a referendum on Trump and his agenda.
“Republicans spent four years attacking the Democratic brand and we need to use the hearings to begin returning the favor,” Schumer told top Democrats on Senate committees.
Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing became a circus after Senate Democrats attacked with media smears and fearmongered over the Trump agenda.
Veteran political journalist Mark Halperin warned that Senate Democrats’ strategy of mudslinging was doomed to fail during an appearance on NewsNation’s On Balance with Leland Vittert.
“If the Democratic Party thinks the path back is this, they’re just as confused as they were during the election about how to win in the age of MAGA,” Halperin explained. “There are ways to hold the nominee accountable to get valuable information and by the way, ask serious questions. And there’s been some of that.”
Halperin pointed out that Senate Democrats were still trying to take swings at Trump after the election.
“But this is all tactics, no strategy,” Halperin said. “This is all about trying to do damage to Donald Trump and not to figure out a way to be adults, be serious and pick their fights.”
Democrats are lost without a strategy for Trump’s second term
Halperin argued that attacks from Senate Democrats against Trump’s nominees were falling flat.
“So I’ve been disappointed, but, as I said, I’m not surprised. The party is in the wilderness right now,” Halperin stated. “And Donald Trump, for the most part, has nominated people who either are very accomplished and impressive or have prepared really well for their hearings. And so you’re not seeing a lot of success. You’ve got poor tactics and strategy against very well-prepared nominees.”
Host Leland Vittert said that Trump’s nominees came out of their committee hearings in better shape than when they went in.
“Hegseth set the pace,” Halperin said. “His team did a very skillful job of reviving his nomination, which was given up for dead by folks in Mar-a-Lago, getting him his hearing and then, again, you can disagree with them. You can say he’s not qualified for the job, but there’s no disputing that he was extremely well-prepared.”
Halperin said that Senate Democrats failed to do any serious damage to Hegseth in his confirmation hearing.
“This is one of these situations, and Leland, I’m sure you had the same experience. Pretty much everyone I know, people in finance, people in law, people in politics, people in media, total civilians. They looked at the performance of the Democrats so far and they said I could do better. Like anybody could do better,” Halperin continued. “How can these people, whose job it is both to advise and consent and try to hold the Republicans accountable, how could they do such a poor job? And it’s a bit of a mystery, but it is what it is.”
Senate Democrats fell flat on their faces trying to oppose Trump’s cabinet nominees.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
