The Democrats in the Senate are back to their old tricks of using delay tactics to stall President Trump’s nominees for cabinet positions.

The nomination of CIA Director John Ratcliffe passed out of the Senate Intelligence Committee with a vote of 14-3.  However, when the Majority Leader John Thune calls the Ratcliffe nomination to the floor for a full Senate vote, suddenly individual Senators start using procedural processes to delay the votes.

The issue is not about Ratcliffe per se’, without doubt Ratcliffe will pass a full senate confirmation vote without issue when it takes place.  The Democrats are using Ratcliffe to set the stage for delays in Pete Hegseth to be Defense secretary and Kristi Noem to be DHS secretary; along with a pending confirmation hearing set for Tulsi Gabbard (DNI) and Kash Patel (FBI).

This ultimately becomes the first test for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has previously said he would fully support a rapid confirmation process for all of President Trump’s nominees.  Former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did nothing to force the Upper Chamber to confirm, Senator John Thune does not want to be seen as following McConnell’s path.  WATCH:

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Leader Thune and Senator Barrasso (#2) are now pledging to keep the Senate in session until the nominees are confirmed.  This stops the Senators from going home but inevitably ends up on a game of attrition. Whose determination will last longest, the minority resistance or the Senate majority.

This activity in the Senate comes as the latest Presidential Tracking Poll shows a net approval of +14, President Trump’s highest approval rating ever.  The Democrats in the upper chamber are walking a narrow path of irrelevance; however, they are counting on their superiority in the Senate to outlast any negative public opinion.

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Not a surprising appointment all things considered.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has appointed Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to replace Senator Marco Rubio, pending Rubio’s resignation from his Senate seat which will follow his confirmation.

This will provide an opportunity to position DeSantis loyalist, his Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier, as Florida Attorney General to replace Moody. This also positions congressman Byron Donalds to run for Florida Governor, supporting the MAGA coalition.

Moody will take up a pro-DeSantis position in the Senate in preparation for a head-to-head contest between Ron DeSantis and JD Vance in 2028 for the GOP presidential nomination. As senator, Ashley Moody will be unlikely to challenge any of the Trump agenda and will likely support it given the stakes for Ron. All in all, a predictable outcome.

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The alligator emojis will be happy, so too will the MAGA coalition.

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The 1,547 page “continuing resolution bill” is available for review HERE.  They are calling this a “CR” (continuing resolution) bill to fund government.  However, only approximately 10 pages (15 to 25) are the funding mechanism; the rest is a regulatory construct, an attempt to circumvent the Trump administration, and position the federal government to defend against structural changes President Trump is intending to initiate.

Within THE BILL, in an effort to force Republicans to support it, there is a section approximately 500 pages, that spends and directs $100 billion for disaster relief in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina following the devasting late season hurricanes.  The disaster relief portion should be a stand-alone bill but is included in the massive omnibus spending package because it creates votes to support.

President Trump is well aware of the mechanics inside the Omnibus (CR) package and, together with Elon Musk, has announced his opposition to it.

President Trump is urging congress to pass only the portion of the bill that would tie up loose ends and keep government funded before he takes office next month.  His direction is to raise the government’s borrowing authority –debt ceiling– and extending government funding.

Doing a short-term funding CR means lawmakers must strip out all the non-funding elements backed by Democrats.  This would allow only Republicans to pass the bill.  The stuff Democrats want would be removed.  Currently the Democrats are aligned to support the bill and vote for it because the majority of the bill is toxic regulatory changes.

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I have been waiting for someone to outline what the Dept of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is all about.  Unfortunately, perhaps due to the history of the matter, it appears few understand. So, with that in mind, and accepting the operators of DOGE may not have a fulsome comprehension of the dynamic, here is what it means.

The last Federal Budget that passed through “regular order” was for Fiscal Year 2008, signed by President George W Bush in September of 2007.  Every budget since has been outside regular order; a series of continuing resolutions, omnibus spending packages and short-term funding mechanisms.  {CITATION}

That is correct.  In the past 17 years, all federal spending has been ‘short-term’ or ‘stop-gap’ spending measures, generally known as “Continuing Resolutions,” where the govt (House and Senate) continue to perpetually resolve to fund the government.  The CRs as they are known, punt the spending debate by accepting a baseline of prior spending and tweaking around the edges.

The key takeaway to begin thinking about DOGE is to understand that REGULAR ORDER has not been used since Fiscal Year 2008.

Title III of the Congressional Budget Act outlines a legal timeline that each President and Congress must follow {SEE HERE}.  Prior to 2007, Continuing Resolutions were only used to resolve short term arguments about spending priorities.

♦ BACKGROUND – The President is required by law to submit his budget by the first Monday in February.  Yes, even when an election takes place and a President doesn’t assume office until January 20th, the first Monday in February is still the legal requirement for the new White House budget proposal.

The Presidents’ budget is then submitted to The House of Representatives, where two weeks later the Congressional Budget Office, reviews the budget and issues an opinion as to the cost of the budget.   No later than six weeks after the President submits his budget all House committees send the House Appropriations Committee their spending proposals [April 15].

Through May and June, each budgetary appropriations bill from the House is sent to the Senate.  The Senate receives the House appropriations bills, then reviews through the Senate Appropriations Committee (Thune just picked Susan Collins as Chair).  The Senate proposes their spending priorities based on the House bill because the House has constitutional authority to originate all spending [June 15].  The House and Senate budgets are “reconciled” using parliamentary procedures [June 30] and then sent to the President for signature.

The fiscal year begins October 1st.

That’s the regular order process.

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Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth paused for an impromptu press gaggle with assembled media following another day of discussions and questions from Senators.  WATCH:

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The New York Times is admitting something they previously pretended did not exist, Mitch McConnell is ready to fight Donald Trump.  You guys have watched this battle before, and you guys know that John Thune is the exact same ideological construct as his mentor, Mitch McConnell.  We do not need to pretend here.

An additional aspect to watch closely.  We know the Intelligence Community, the “Six Ways from Sunday” group, are going to do whatever is needed in order to protect their equity interests from the return of President Trump.  Again, no pretending is needed.

Currently, as Senate Majority Leader, John Thune elevates to the intelligence “oversight” group known as the Gang of Eight.  Four members of the Gang of Eight (Go8) come out of the Senate, and four from the House.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are three of the four from the Senate.  However, we still do not know who will join Thune from the GOP side. Who will be the Republican SSCI Chairman?

Internally, Susan Collins is now Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Mitch McConnell is now Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, a specifically taken position to retain control of Senate rules (think Cloture, Filibuster and importantly, Recess Appointments via Senate schedule).

With Thune on the Gang of Eight, Collins as Appropriations (spending), and McConnell in charge of ‘rules’, who joins Thune on the Gang of Eight?

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The RGA as an organization is the state level equivalent of the Mitch McConnell’s federal never-Trump group.  The RGA is notorious for selecting the “approved republican” candidates who are permitted to run for Governor.

If a gubernatorial candidate does not get the approval of the RGA, the candidate can never win the election.  All strategies are deployed to stop him/her.

With the American voters having previously rejected the RGA candidate for Republican president, Ron DeSantis, the RGA announces who will lead their counterattack to regain control.

MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT – The Republican Governors Association (RGA) today announced Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has been elected to serve as RGA Chair, and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte will serve as RGA Vice Chair for 2025. (read more)

The RGA is as predictable as the “six ways from Sunday” organization.

And tomorrow is a Thursday.

…“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”

~ Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

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The “Big Ugly” was always a description of the battle that few understood.  You cannot be betrayed by your enemies; that happens when your allies reveal themselves against your interests.  Majority Leader John Thune will play his cards carefully in order to extract maximum damage.

The Senate is factually the core of republican opposition to MAGA and President Trump.  The visible battle against Obama, Biden, Harris and the professional political left, always consumes the most attention.  However, it is the less-visible battle against the entrenched ideological republicans that proves to be the hardest.

The Republicans in the upper chamber will not relinquish power easily.  They have a multitude of weapons to use against the insurgency of President Trump supporters.  We are seeing this play out now in the alignment of Republican Senators who stand in opposition to President Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz as U.S. Attorney General, and this recent report aligns with exactly the type of move we would expect.

The basic outline is that senate leadership will reluctantly support Matt Gaetz for Main Justice, where ‘support’ means they will not directly oppose; in exchange for the nomination of FBI Director Mike Rogers to defend their interests at FBI.

This is the typical type of deal the DeceptiCons are well known for.

Thune and McConnell (in background) have yet to reveal who they have planned to place in the chair positions of multiple committees. We are very interested to see who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence because that mutually dependent relationship is the core of the IC influence in the legislative branch.  The same may be said for the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and ultimately the Gaetz nomination.

This recent report aligns with information we have received from the senate staff offices who are discussing the Gaetz nomination.  Thune would not make such a proposal openly, for obvious reasons, but intermediaries would relay the message between the upper chamber and the transition team.

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It has come to my attention that most of MAGA, specifically those who do not understand the history of Republicans in the Senate, support a return to Senatorial and Parliamentary norms, where 60 votes are needed in order to advance any legislative intent. [READ HERE] Stupid is, as stupid does.

Prior to the 2024 election, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, promised to end the filibuster rule and change the Senate to a simple ‘majority rules’ body.  However, in the aftermath of the 2024 election outcome, where Democrats are now in the minority, Chuck Schumer has a reversal of prior opinion and is requesting the Republican leadership to retain the filibuster rule – giving power to the Democrats who now hold minority position.

Into this mix of UniParty and DeceptiCon political constructs, the online MAGA community are now advocating for a return to old Senatorial rules where amendments can be offered to all bills proposed and the 60-vote threshold is retained for cloture, filibuster power and legislative passage.

Despite knowing Majority Leader Schumer was going to crush them, Senator Rick Scott, Senator John Cornyn and yes, now, Majority Leader John Thune, are taking the high road and promising to keep the power of the Democrat minority in place.  A more apropos example of “Battered Conservative Syndrome” has never been so clear.

WASHINGTON DC – […] “The short version of that is: Please don’t do to us what we were going to do to you. Schumer is obviously concerned that Republicans might embrace a scheme to eliminate the filibuster and pass all sorts of consequential legislation with no Democratic input at all. That wouldn’t be bipartisan! Fortunately for Schumer, Republicans have been more principled than Democrats when it comes to the legislative filibuster, and to the filibuster in general. Republicans realize that even though they will have the majority for the next two years, they might be back in the minority at any time after that. So, Schumer will not get it good and hard the way he planned to give it to Republicans.” (more)

This is exactly how ‘republicanism’ infects the MAGA movement, ultimately and predictably positioning the future republican voters frustrated and shouting at trees.  Democrats, together with Mitch McConnell and John Thune love this, because it retains their lucrative business model.

Let me start by reminding the MAGA victims, that’s YOU, of the position of Democrats:

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Newly elected Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), held a press conference today to answer questions and introduce his leadership team: Assistant Majority Leader, also called the Republican “whip” John Barrasso (R-WY), Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR), Republican Policy Committee Chair Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Republican Conference Vice Chair James Lankford (R-OK), National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC). WATCH:

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