Spin Cycle: The Hand-Wringing Continues Over Trump Cabinet Picks

For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.

Now that the 2024 presidential election is in the rearview mirror — not to mention the fact that President-elect Donald Trump has a decisive mandate to govern along with a solid majority in the incoming Senate — media appears content to pass the time leading up to the holidays and the now inevitable Trump transition by casting doubt on every nomination and appointment he makes.

On ABC News’ “This Week,” host Jonathan Karl kicked off the show by attempting to cast doubt on the process, suggesting that Trump was rushing — and perhaps being less than thorough — to fill out his White House and his cabinet, and fretting about the lack of FBI background checks thus far.

“Donald Trump has chosen nearly all of his Cabinet nominees and senior White House staff, making his picks at a record pace and bypassing the typical vetting process — no FBI background checks yet for any of them,” Karl said.

“Donald Trump has chosen nearly all of his Cabinet nominees and senior White House staff, making his picks at a record pace and bypassing the typical vetting process — no FBI background checks yet for any of them,” @JonKarl reports. https://t.co/2oJUrLxdzs pic.twitter.com/YW5gcJ5utk

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 24, 2024

As for Trump’s efforts to get the incoming Republican Senate majority to back his nominees, Karl said that he’d been told that “Senate Republicans would have no choice but to get in line – or see their political careers go down.”

“A top Trump lieutenant told me Senate Republicans would have no choice but to get in line – or see their political careers go down.” @JonKarl has the latest on President-elect Donald Trump’s transition and Cabinet nominations: https://t.co/MN4JyASUOz pic.twitter.com/H3yFRDsFqD

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 24, 2024

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Karl to discuss the situation, and he noted that Trump expected to “hit the ground running,” which was why he was attempting to have all of his nominees ready for hearings and confirmation votes as soon as he was sworn in. He also argued that Trump’s cabinet would face the kind of accountability that President Joe Biden’s never had.

“Massive failures on his watch, massive failures by his Cabinet members,” Hagerty said. “President Trump will fire people that don’t do their job well.”

GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty says there have been “zero consequences in President Biden’s Cabinet.”

“Massive failures on his watch, massive failures by his Cabinet members … President Trump will fire people that don’t do their job well.” https://t.co/KdNiJx0rfz pic.twitter.com/3nlOWQGjNF

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 24, 2024

Karl also brought in Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who complained that without background checks, she did not feel that she could do her job in the confirmation process properly: “I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I’ve done in the past, and I can’t do that without the background checks.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar emphasizes the importance of FBI background checks for Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

“I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I’ve done in the past, and I can’t do that without the background checks.” https://t.co/WKLUEDPARu pic.twitter.com/qGlDtGy9C2

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 24, 2024

On CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan spoke with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) about Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth — and she attacked his position on women serving in combat roles.

“Our military could not go to war without the women who wear this uniform,” Duckworth said, appearing to conflate Hegseth’s position — that women should not serve in direct combat — with an opposition to women in the military altogether. “And frankly, America’s daughters are just as capable of defending liberty and freedom as her sons … [It] shows his lack of understanding of where our military is.”

“He’s just flat-out wrong,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a veteran who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, says about defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s belief that women should not serve in combat roles.

“Our military could not go to war without the women who wear… pic.twitter.com/BcXQHfgQ9D

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 24, 2024

Duckworth also made an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” where she told anchor Dana Bash that she believed former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — chosen by Trump to be his Director of National Intelligence — was “compromised” and “someone who is wholly backing and supportive of Putin.”

“I think she’s compromised.”

.@TammyDuckworth slams Director of National Intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard in an interview with @DanaBashCNN. pic.twitter.com/HTNBz9TMWx

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) November 24, 2024

Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) pushed back on Duckworth’s attacks on Gabbard, saying, “For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong.”

“For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong.”@SenMullin reacts to Sen. Duckworth calling Trump’s nominee for intel chief Tulsi Gabbard “compromised” and “someone who is wholly backing and supportive of Putin.” pic.twitter.com/2eXscKwASr

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) November 24, 2024

Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) also defended Gabbard during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He told host Kristen Welker that calling her a Russian asset, as Duckworth essentially had, amounted to a “slur.”

‘It’s a slur’ to call DNI pick Tulsi Gabbard a foreign asset, says GOP Sen. Schmitt https://t.co/kaRpjFJXrC

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 24, 2024