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John Thune, the newly minted Senate majority leader, seems like he’s laying the groundwork to give one of Donald Trump’s most disturbing Cabinet picks the green light.
The South Dakota Republican has been portrayed, at times, as a wild card who might buck some of Trump’s most unqualified and/or illiberal choices. If you’re holding out hope for that, the senator’s appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” could have been a bit deflating.
When host Kristen Welker asked about Kash Patel — the Trump loyalist picked to lead the FBI — having a list of dozens of purported MAGA nemeses he thinks ought to be investigated, and whether Patel would prioritize national security over “settling political scores,” Thune tried to bypass the question.
“Are you certain that Kash Patel’s priorities would be fighting crime, protecting national security, rather than settling political scores?” Welker asked.
Thune’s rambling, evasive reply was filled with MAGA talking points:
I think that he understands what his mission would be if he is successful in getting confirmed to that position at the FBI. The FBI is an agency that I think is in need of reform and needs a good makeover, so to speak, and probably a good amount of housecleaning when it comes to just the perception the American people have of it. And these institutions that the American people need to have confidence and trust in, I think that confidence and trust has largely eroded. And there’s an opportunity to fix that. I think that’s what — I sat down with, met with him. I think he understands that that’s the mission. And if he’s successful through the nomination process, I hope that he will take very seriously that responsibility and focus on what he can do to make the FBI operate in a way that is protecting the American people and also being accountable to the same.
As you can see, Thune didn’t actually answer the question. Saying Patel understands “what his mission would be” isn’t the same as saying he understands that the FBI’s mission is to protect Americans.
So Welker gave Thune another shot, and he fared no better on the second try.
“When you say you think he does understand the mission, does that mean, yes, you do think he will put national security ahead of settling political scores?” she asked.
Thune said:
Well, you know, in my conversations with him, and I’ve not talked a lot about the meetings that I’ve had, but I felt like he fully understood, I think, what is expected and I think what the president wants out of the agency. And, yeah, I feel confident that he gets what his job is going to be if he gets over there. And I think that as he goes through the process, more members will have an opportunity to ask the questions of him. But I think, at least based on my conversations with him, I felt very good about that.
Yet another evasive answer from the leader of the Senate on whether it’s suitable for a presidential attack dog to lead the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country.
Thune declined to say whether he’ll be a “yes” vote on Patel, saying he’s not revealing his positions on Trump’s selections at this moment. But he also said that he and the Senate are going to “get the president his people as quickly as possible in the key positions where he wants them” — and by the sound of his answers about Patel, it seems there’s next to nothing a Cabinet pick can do to spoil their chances.