Politics
Durbin, Duckworth Slam Trump Cabinet Choices as ‘Dangerously Unqualified’ and a ‘Disaster’
Left: U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin appears on “Chicago Tonight” on May 23, 2023. Right: U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth appears at the WTTW News candidate forum on Oct. 27, 2022. (WTTW News)
President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices are provoking backlash from the two Illinois Democrats whose positions give them power to take part in approving, or denying, Cabinet appointments.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Illinois’ senior U.S. senator, said Trump’s hoped-for attorney general, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, “would be a disaster.”
“During his first administration, Donald Trump assaulted the Constitution, undermined the rule of law, and tried to use the Department of Justice to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” Durbin said in a statement Wednesday. “He has made it clear that he now plans to use the Justice Department to seek revenge on his political enemies.”
Illinois’ junior member of the U.S. Senate, Army National Guard veteran Tammy Duckworth, takes issue with Trump’s plan to nominate Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as the secretary of defense.
Duckworth used the word “dangerous” to describe the pick and said troops deserve better.
“Being Secretary of Defense is a very serious job, and putting someone as dangerously unqualified as Pete Hegseth into that role is something that should scare all of us,” Duckworth said in a statement. “Donald Trump is once again proving he cares more about his MAGA base than keeping our nation safe—and our troops, our military families and our national security will pay the price.”
Duckworth took issue with Hegseth’s lack of experience as a leader, and said being a TV personality doesn’t mean he has the skills to lead a department overseeing 3 million troops and civilian employees.
Duckworth served 23 years and lost her legs during combat in Iraq.
“Our troops and our country deserve better,” Duckworth said in a statement. “In this moment, my Republican colleagues must recognize the danger that confirming a wholly unqualified Secretary of Defense nominee would put our country in, stop rolling over for Donald Trump and oppose this nomination.”
Whether Durbin and Duckworth will have the chance to weigh in on the nominations is unsettled.
Trump is pushing for the U.S. Senate to work its procedures in a way that would allow him to make Cabinet appointments without congressional oversight.
His making appointments while the soon-to-be Republican-controlled chamber is in recess would allow him to bypass Senate approval of his appointees.
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
