If only they had been warned.
On Wednesday, NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reported that some Democratic senators now say they regret voting to confirm Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security. As a reminder, seven of them did: Sens. Tim Kaine, Andy Kim, Elissa Slotkin, Gary Peters, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen and John Fetterman.
“I’m very disappointed. I’m very disappointed in her,” Kaine told NBC News. “If I were voting on her today, I definitely wouldn’t vote for her.”
But why the long faces just now? In retrospect, the morality tale ending in a puppy killing should have been a red flag. Or perhaps her lack of qualifications; or the fact that she was already promising mass deportations.
Now, those Democrats sound surprised to find out who she really is. Interesting.
Now, those Democrats sound surprised to find out who she really is. Interesting.
Some of the remorseful senators appear to have been pushed over the edge by the brutal treatment of their colleague Sen. Alex Padilla of California, who was pushed to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents when he tried to ask Noem a question at a news conference. Rather than apologizing, Noem doubled down by defending the takedown.
Others cited her performative cruelty and the fact that she seems to be merely a figurehead for an agency that appears to take its marching orders from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
But what did they think would happen here?
The Senate’s power of “advice and consent” is a crucial part of our constitutional system of checks and balances. It’s also a solemn responsibility, especially when that constitutional order is under siege.
But obviously, not all of the senators saw it that way.
Despite all the warning signs, despite the cascade of unqualified loyalists and Fox News favorites that Trump was nominating to his Cabinet, the Senate simply rolled over. Too many times, lawmakers from both parties gave the benefit of the doubt to a president who had proven over and over again that he didn’t deserve it.
As a result, the Senate is now awash in regrets; or at least it should be. And the chagrin should be bipartisan.
How are Democratic senators feeling about their unanimous support for Marco Rubio as secretary of state, as he dismantles USAID and presides over the betrayal of Ukraine?
And what about Louisiana’s Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services despite his “grave doubts” about his fitness for the office. Cassidy came around after Kennedy promised that he would preserve, “without changes,” a CDC advisory committee on vaccines.
Last week, Kennedy fired every member.
Attorney General Pam Bondi continues to weaponize the Justice Department against Trump’s political enemies — including law firms. So curious minds would also like to know whether the Washington Post editorial board has any regrets about endorsing Bondi’s confirmation — as well as Noem’s. (Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote to confirm Bondi. He is one of a handful of Democrats to vote for 10 of Trump’s nominees.)
Curious minds would also like to know whether the Washington Post editorial board has any regrets about endorsing Bondi’s confirmation.
How does North Carolina’s GOP Sen. Thom Tillis feel about casting the decisive vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense? Tillis had promised Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that a sworn statement affirming the nominee had an alcohol problem and had abused his second wife could potentially sway three Republicans to vote no, including him.
Does Tillis — or Sen. Joni Ernst — have any regrets about confirming someone so unqualified that he was not considered a key part of the decision-making process as Trump weighed going to war with Iran? (Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell told NBC News this wasn’t true. Hegseth has also denied the allegations of alcohol and spousal abuse.)
Any second thoughts now from the 50 Republicans who voted to put him in charge of the Pentagon? And how are GOP senators feeling today about their votes to confirm Tulsi Gabbard, who has been similarly tossed under the bus?
There are, of course, lessons to be learned here about the limits of “bipartisanship” and business-as-usual politics in the age of Trump. But it’s not yet clear whether the chamber formerly known as the “world’s greatest deliberative body” has learned any of those lessons. At least it has regrets.
