OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley is calling on all Republicans to work with President-elect Donald Trump and get his Cabinet in place.
During an interview on Fox News with host Jesse Watters, Hawley said that it is critical for the U.S. Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans in January, to allow Trump to assemble his Cabinet that “reflects his agenda.”
“I saw your colleague hold up a sign on the Senate floor with a big zero. Zero Democrats in the Senate voted against any of Biden’s cabinet nominees. Zero. And look what these nominees did in Biden’s cabinet. They wrecked the country, they blew open the border, they spent trillions of dollars. Zero Democrats are against them. Are Republicans comfortable voting against President Trump’s picks?” Watters asked.
“I sure hope not. I mean, listen, I think that the president deserves to have a cabinet that reflects his agenda, that’s going to implement his agenda. And you made this point just a second ago, Jesse. I think the thing that really the press and the establishment hates so much is how broad this coalition is. They can’t believe that people like RFK and Tulsi Gabbard are in this coalition and in this cabinet, and it just reflects the breadth of President Trump’s mandate, the breadth of President Trump’s coalition,” Hawley said.
“This isn’t your typical cabinet and that’s as it should be. It reflects the winning majority coalition Donald Trump put together,” he added.
Watters then asked: “So is the president-elect burning up the phones? Is he making threats? I know some people are threatening primaries against some of these Republican senators if they don’t vote yes.”
“I think the president is absolutely weighing in. That’s my sense as I visited with him, that he’s calling people and saying, ‘Listen, give these people a shot.’ Don’t go out there and say, ‘I’m against him, I’m against her, I will never vote yes.’ Don’t say this stuff. Let them speak. Hear their views. I mean, at least let them go through the process and testify and support Trump. I mean, stand by him as he assembles a cabinet that reflects his agenda and it reflects the mandate that he’s gotten from the American people,” Hawley said.
“Yeah, I mean, these guys are all going to make their own call. I get it. I understand the politics of it. But if they go down in flames, a couple of these guys, as Trump gets inaugurated, you’re going to have the Republican Senate injure the incoming president politically, do damage to him politically, hurt him as he had momentum, and he hasn’t even deregulated the government, hasn’t cut anything, hasn’t even had any legislation passed. They’re just going to kneecap him out of the gate?” Watters asked the Republican lawmaker.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what we cannot afford, Jesse. This is a coalition that is a majority coalition. Let’s not lose sight of the fact. And this is my message to all of my colleagues: Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is the leader of our party who just won a decisive victory in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. He deserves to have a cabinet that will implement his agenda and will deliver on the promises he made to the American people, and it’s the Senate’s job to help get him that cabinet. So let’s move forward here full steam ahead,” Hawley responded.
Watters concluded by saying: “Okay. Well, these are going to be some feisty hearings, and I think ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ will be here to cover it in a fair way, because that’s all you can ask.”
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