Trump allies turn up the heat on GOP Senate holdouts in nomination battles

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Latest Political News on Fox News

As President-elect Trump and his transition team steer his cabinet nominees through the landmines of the Senate confirmation process, top MAGA allies are joining the fight by putting pressure on GOP lawmakers who aren't fully on board.

"There will be no resource that we won’t use to go after those U.S. senators that vote against Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks or his other nominees," longtime Trump outside adviser Corey Lewandowski told Fox News this week.

Fueled by grassroots support for Trump and his nominees, the president-elect's political team and allies are cranking up the volume.

Exhibit A: Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

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Ernst, the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate, is considered a pivotal vote in the confirmation battle over Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for defense secretary.

Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who until last month was a longtime Fox News host, has been the focus of a slew of media reports spotlighting a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations, as well as a report alleging he mismanaged a veterans nonprofit organization that he once led.

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Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women, but did reach a financial settlement with an accuser from a 2017 incident to avoid a lawsuit. He has vowed that he won't drink "a drop of alcohol" if confirmed as defense secretary.

Ernst, a member of the Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth's confirmation hearings, took plenty of incoming fire after last week publicly expressing hesitance over Hegseth's nomination.

While Trump publicly praised Hegseth late last week, as the nomination appeared to be teetering, top allies of the president-elect took aim at Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2026 in red-state Iowa.

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Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect's oldest son and MAGA powerhouse, took to social media to target Ernst and other potentially wavering Republican senators.

"If you’re a GOP Senator who voted for Lloyd Austin [President Biden's defense secretary], but criticize @PeteHegseth, then maybe you’re in the wrong political party!" he posted.

Top MAGA ally Charlie Kirk quickly took aim at Ernst with talk of supporting a primary challenger to her.

"This is the red line. This is not a joke.… The funding is already being put together. Donors are calling like crazy. Primaries are going to be launched," said Kirk, an influential conservative activist and radio and TV host who co-founded and steers Turning Point USA.

Kirk, on his radio program, warned that "if you support the president’s agenda, you’re good. You’re marked safe from a primary. You go up against Pete Hegseth, the president, repeatedly, then don’t be surprised, Joni Ernst, if all of a sudden you have a primary challenge in Iowa."

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a top Trump supporter in last January's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, wrote a column on Breitbart urging Hegseth's confirmation.

While she didn't mention Ernst by name, Bird took aim at "D.C. politicians" who "think they can ignore the voices of their constituents and entertain smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years."

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And longtime Iowa-based conservative commentator and media personality Steve Deace took to social media and used his radio program to highlight that he would consider launching a primary challenge against Ernst.

Ernst, who stayed neutral in the Iowa caucuses before endorsing Trump later in the GOP presidential primary calendar, may have gotten the message.

After meeting earlier this week for a second time with Hegseth, Ernst said in a statement that her meeting was "encouraging" and that she would "support Pete through this process."

But Ernst's office told Fox News that "the senator has consistently followed the process, which she has said since the beginning, and doing her job as a United States senator."

It's not just Ernst who has faced the fire from Trump allies and MAGA world.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of four remaining GOP senators who voted in the 2021 Trump impeachment trial to convict him, is also up for re-election in 2026 in a reliably red state. Cassidy is now facing a formal primary challenge from Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, a senior adviser in the first Trump administration.

Sen. Mike Rounds, another Republican up for re-election in two years in GOP-dominated South Dakota, has also been blasted by Kirk, as well as by top Trump ally and billionaire Elon Musk.

And staunch Trump supporter Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama had a warning for Republican Senate colleagues who may oppose the president-elect's nominees.

"Republicans: If you’re not on the team, get out of the way," he told FOX Business.

Whether these early threats from Trump allies turn into actual primary challenges in the next midterm elections remains to be seen. And ousting a senator is no easy feat. It's been a dozen years since an incumbent senator was defeated during a primary challenge.

But Trump's team and allies are playing hardball in the wake of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the president-elect's first attorney general nominee, ending his confirmation bid amid controversy.

There has been a full-court press by Trump's political orbit to bolster Hegseth — in order to protect him and some of the president-elect's other controversial Cabinet picks.

"If Trump world allowed a couple of establishment senators to veto a second nominee, it would have led to a feeding frenzy on Trump's other nominees, and so the thinking in Trump world was we have to defend Pete not just for the sake of defending Pete, but also for the sake of defending our other nominees," a longtime Trump world adviser, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News.

Fox News' Emma Colton, Cameron Cawthorne, Julia Johnson, Tyler Olson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

GOP Sen blasts Biden admin claiming abortion travel policy is essential to military readiness

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is questioning President Biden's Department of Defense over its abortion travel assistance policies that Secretary Lloyd Austin has previously said are important for force readiness.

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In a letter sent on Monday, the senator requested evidence from the Pentagon on how its abortion travel allowances are necessary for force readiness in the wake of Roe v. Wade's reversal, as Austin previously claimed.

In a development on Tuesday, the department announced new figures regarding the policy, soon after being asked for comment by Fox News Digital, and one day after Wicker's letter prompted it to explain new data he obtained through another Senate committee.

According to Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh, the travel allowance policy was used 12 times from June-December of 2023. The allowances can be used for "non-covered" abortions, but are also approved for other procedures and treatments. The cost to the Pentagon was roughly $40,800, she said.

While the department offers authorized allowances for travel and transportation assistance, this does not mean that all service members who travel to obtain abortions have requested or received such allowances.

In his Monday letter, Wicker noted he received data "indirectly through a different Senate committee," which showed that the Army recorded "between August 2023 and December 31, 2023, three service members utilized the policy and claimed travel expenses totaling $2,097."

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The data on abortion policy usage and cost in 2023 was provided to another Senate committee by the Army, per Wicker's office. It was then forwarded to Wicker.

"Still, with today’s news, the fact remains: This administration has recklessly politicized the military with this farce of a policy," said Wicker in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The Department even admitted today that those that use the policy may not have even used it for an abortion. The reality is that access to abortions is not a threat to readiness."

Wicker recalled Austin's past claim that the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, returning the issue of abortion to the states, "has impacted access to reproductive health care, with readiness, recruiting and retention implications for the force."

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In the letter, Wicker slammed the department for providing only "incomplete, evasive, or outright non-answers" when he prompted it on three separate occasions in 2023 for information to justify the abortion policy and how it affects force readiness.

He noted that in response to his most recent letter in December, the department focused on fertilization services and avoided discussing the "provision of non-covered abortion services that end the lives of unborn babies."

Wicker further criticized the department's response for refusing to provide information on the usage of the policies and the amount of money that was being spent, prompting him to obtain the information elsewhere. He claimed the response, "is contradicted by the Army's data which clearly provided the number of service members who have claimed reimbursement of travel expenses using the policy."

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"That number is essential to best capture the actual readiness impact on the force, if any," he explained in the Monday letter.

Wicker additionally requested the department to provide up-to-date data, "in the same form the Army has provided," on usage of the policy since implementation.

The senator had also requested "immediate delivery" of this data from the department, noting the other occasions on which it was not provided.

White House launching review of Cabinet protocols after defense secretary’s secret hospitalization: memo

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Latest Political News on Fox News

The White House is launching a review of Cabinet protocols for delegating authority in the wake of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent secret hospitalization following a procedure to treat prostate cancer, according to a memo obtained by Fox News.

The memo from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients is addressed to Cabinet secretaries and directs departments and agencies to "submit their agency-specific delegation of authority protocols by Friday, January 12, 2024, to the Office of Cabinet Affairs."

"The White House is conducting a review of agency protocols for a delegation of authority from Cabinet Members," the memo states. "The purpose of this memo is to direct your agencies to submit your existing protocols for a delegation of authority to the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs, and to ensure an updated process for such delegations in the interim. The Office of Cabinet Affairs will convey these protocols to the White House Chief of Staff."

The memo says that while the review is "ongoing," Cabinet agencies "must ensure" they follow procedures "in the event that a delegation of authority is required."

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The memo directs the agencies to "notify the Offices of Cabinet Affairs and White House Chief of Staff in the event of a delegation of authority or potential delegation."

READ THE MEMO - APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

It also directs agencies to "document in writing that the delegation of authority is in effect."

The memo comes after it was revealed that Austin was hospitalized for days without notifying the White House. The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that Austin went under general anesthesia for a prostatectomy on Dec. 22, 2023.

"His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent," Walter Reed Hospital said. Austin was on leave at the time of the procedure, and he returned home the next day.

The hospital said Austin started to experience "severe pain" on Jan. 1 and was admitted to the intensive care unit ICU, where the medical team treated a urinary tract infection. Austin was also treated for a backup of his small intestines with a tube placed through his nose to drain his stomach. Walter Reed said it anticipates him making a "full recovery although this can be a slow process."

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Austin did not notify the chairman of the Joint Chiefs or his deputy until the following day. The White House and President Biden were unaware until Jan. 4, and Congress and the press were notified on Jan. 5.

Calls for Biden to remove Austin from his post and for Austin to resign have been mounting, but the White House said Austin will remain in his post.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said this week "there are no plans for anything other than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job and continue in the leadership that he's been … demonstrating."

Department of Defense press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told Fox News Digital that Austin doesn't have any plans to leave his post.

"Secretary Austin has no plans to resign," Ryder said. "He remains focused on conducting his duties as secretary of defense in defense of our nation."

But Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Austin on Tuesday afternoon.

Austin is no longer in the ICU, but it is unclear when he will be released from the hospital.

Austin and Biden authorized the Jan. 4 strike in Baghdad before Austin was hospitalized.

"The secretary was aware of the strike/actions on Jan. 4," a senior U.S. defense official said.

Ryder previously told Fox News he could not provide additional information about Austin’s ailments for privacy reasons. Austin resumed his duties from the hospital on Friday.

Fox News Digital's Houston Keene, Greg Wehner and Liz Friden contributed to this report.