CAMBRIDGE, MA—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) yesterday joined This Week on ABC News to discuss Congress’ role in carrying out President Donald Trump’s agenda by quickly confirming his cabinet nominees.
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Partial Transcript
Hagerty on Congress’ role in carrying out Trump’s agenda: “[President Trump has] got tremendous energy. He’s feeling great. The mandate that came from the American public is overwhelming, and he’s absorbed that, I think, in a very positive way. He knows that the American public has voted to see change, radical change, in Washington, and I think that’s what he’s ready to deliver. It’s our job in the Legislative Branch to work alongside with him arm-in-arm, and I look forward to doing that […] He clearly expects to hit the ground running. He wants us to have these hearings done quickly and expeditiously. I’ve said, I’m more than happy to work through the weekends, as long as it takes, to get this done, to get people ready, and prepared to go, so that on the 21st of January, the American public can begin to see his team get seated, and the action that they hope to see, the change that they hope to see, be put in place. In terms of strengthening our economy, strengthening our military, basically making America the country that we all hope, and believe, it can be.”
Hagerty on Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Defense Secretary: “All these are, as you said, allegations. It’s amazing how this comes out. Pete is a very talented individual. I talked with him earlier this week. He told me about how many people had written to him and said, look, I was thinking about getting out. You know, we have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem, in the military. I was thinking about getting out, but now that you’ve come to lead us, Pete, I’m going to stay in. That’s the type of inspirational leader we need to see. Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real, significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality in the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it […] The transition team has been working for months to prepare for this. I’m certain that there was significant vetting that has taken place, that has for every candidate. So, I’m not expecting anything to drop, as you say, or that type of thing. What I expect to see [is] a thorough hearing take place, to see the Senate do its work. And I expect to see Pete Hegseth confirmed as our next Secretary of Defense.”
Hagerty on the hypocrisy from Democrats on cabinet officials: “I don’t think the American public cares who does the background checks. What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted on delivered upon. We need to get to work again. Making our military stronger is absolutely critical, and I think we’re looking at a chance to do this. If you look at the cabinet that’s in place right now, the worst that we’ve ever seen, [Department of Homeland Security Secretary] Alejandro Mayorkas has got to go down as the worst cabinet secretary in history. If you think about the failures on his watch, the failures of [Federal Emergency Management Agency], if you think about what’s happened at our southern border, the invasion that’s happened there, the murder of Laken Riley, the Secret Service failures, we have to get competent people into office. [Defense Secretary] Lloyd Austin overseeing Afghanistan, what a debacle that was. No one has been held to account by the Biden Administration. The American public is ready to hold these people to account now and replace them with a new team […] I’ve been through [Senate confirmation] myself…They need to do these checks expeditiously. The FBI, I think the American public’s got great concerns about how weaponized it’s become. They need to get on with this; we’ll get this done.”
Hagerty on Department of Defense combat policies: “The policy is set by the President of the United States, not by the cabinet members. I may disagree with him. Look, I disagree with Rahm Emanuel on many things, but I supported him to be our Ambassador to Japan, because that was what we needed to do at that point in time. I think Pete Hegseth will follow the lead of the Commander in Chief. That’s what I fully expect.”
Hagerty on recess appointments: “It is and should be on the table…President Reagan used it. President Clinton used it. [President] George W. Bush used it. This is a constitutionally available tool. What we want to see is Democrats cooperate with us. But if the resistance movement gets as heavy as it was, I’ve been through the process myself, a confirmation, I turned my paperwork in on the 21st of January. I didn’t get through the process until July. So, we need to see things move in a far more expeditious pattern. We need to see things move quickly. The American public has spoken in that regard. As I said in the beginning, President Trump is ready for action. We need to put a team in place around him, and he needs every tool at his disposal to do that […] I haven’t spoken with President Trump about the specific plans. What he wants to do is see these appointments made quickly. He wants to see us get through the confirmation process. And again, I think everything should be on the table. And I think if my colleagues understand that, they’ll know that they need to step up and move expeditiously to get these cabinet members confirmed.”
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