Category: Economics / Economy / Income / Financial

The 19th Explains: How Trump’s Cabinet nominees will get confirmed

Originally published by The 19th

The 119th Congress was officially sworn in Friday, meaning the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate will soon begin the process of confirming President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees. 

Article II of the U.S. Constitution enables the president to appoint officials to the Cabinet and other positions with the “advice and consent” of the Senate. Many of the committees, all of which have a majority of Republicans, will hold hearings on the nominees related to their area of expertise: the Senate Judiciary Committee, for example, holds hearings for the nominees for attorney general and other top posts at the Department of Justice. Those hearings will begin soon, with senators likely prioritizing confirming nominees to national security positions. 

Republicans will control the Senate 53 to 47 seats once Senator-elect Jim Justice of West Virginia is sworn in later in January and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appoints a senator to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s seat. 

Some nominees like Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, are expected to easily sail through the Senate, while others are likely to garner more opposition and scrutiny. Here’s how the process will work: 

When do hearings start?

Sen. Roger Wicker, who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, is set to hold Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing for secretary of defense starting January 14, even before Trump’s inauguration. The hearing for former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination for director of national intelligence in the Senate Intelligence Committee is also set to take place that week, according to Punchbowl News. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to prioritize confirming Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, and his nominees for deputy attorneys general before taking up the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI, the outlet reported.  

Are hearings required for every nominee?  

Not necessarily. There are over 1,300 political appointee positions that require Senate confirmation, and some nominees, like military promotions, often go straight to the Senate floor. But nominees for the Cabinet and other high-profile political appointments almost always have confirmation hearings. 

What happens at a confirmation hearing?

Before a hearing, senators on relevant committees will request biographical information and a financial disclosure from the nominee. At the hearing, senators will ask questions about a nominee’s background, their qualifications and their views. Nominees for positions that require a security clearance also traditionally undergo an FBI background check. 

Gabbard and Patel are expected to draw scrutiny for their records and stances on national security issues. Democrats will likely question Hegseth about a past allegation of sexual assault against him, which he denies, as well as his previous comments opposing women in combat roles. Senators on both sides of the aisle are also likely to question Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, on his views on abortion, vaccines and food policy. 

How does a nominee get confirmed after a hearing?  

After a committee holds a hearing, its members can report the nomination favorably or unfavorably to the full Senate for a final vote. In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led his fellow Senate Democrats in changing the chamber’s rules to require only a simple majority to invoke cloture, or end debate, on presidential nominations other than Supreme Court nominees. A simple majority is also needed for final confirmation. In 2017, then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans also lowered the threshold for Supreme Court nominees.  

Historically, it’s been very rare for the Senate to reject a president’s Cabinet nominee. The last time the Senate voted down a Cabinet nominee was in 1989, when senators rejected Sen. John Tower, then-President George H.W. Bush’s nominee for defense secretary, due to concerns about his drinking. Some Cabinet nominees like former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick for attorney general, also bow out of the process before they go up for confirmation. 

Oh, Dear, Watch Out Now…

It’s a very short, well-written read. Seems important, to me.

Disgraced Florida Man Eyes Governor’s Mansion

Things To Think About Over The Next Couple of Weeks-

10th anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo killings by Ann Telnaes

On January 7, 2015 the editorial cartooning community suffered a horrible blow Read on Substack

The attack at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo left 12 people dead, including five cartoonists, and set off a worldwide debate about free speech and satire.

So About Meta

Personally, I don’t think it’s surrender on the part of Meta, nor any of the other media moguls. It’s all of one piece-they’re all in it together with the new 47th president. I’ve read this from others, too, both last night and this morning. We the people are not part of the club. Anyway, here is this.

Meta surrenders to the right on speech

“I really think this a precursor for genocide,” a former employee tells Platformer

Casey Newton

Jan 7, 2025 — 12 min read

Snippet:

I. The past

Donald Trump’s surprising victory in the 2016 US presidential election sparked a backlash against tech platforms in general and against Meta in particular. The company then known as Facebook was battered by revelations that its network dramatically amplified the reach of false stories about Trump and his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and was used as part of a successful effort by Russia to sow division in US politics and tilt the election in favor of Trump.

Chastened by the criticism, Meta set out to shore up its defenses. It hired 40,000 content moderators around the world, invested heavily in building new technology to analyze content for potential harms and flag it for review, and became the world’s leading funder of third-party fact-checking organizations. It spent $280 million to create an independent Oversight Board to adjudicate the most difficult questions about online speech. It disrupted dozens of networks of state-sponsored trolls who sought to use Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to spread propaganda and attack dissenters.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg had expected that these moves would generate goodwill for the company, particularly among the Democrats who would retake power after Trump lost in 2020. Instead, he found that disdain for the company remained strongly bipartisan. Republicans scorned him for policies that disproportionately punished the right, who post more misinformation and hate speech than the left does. Democrats blamed him for the country’s increasingly polarized politics and decaying democracy. And all sides pilloried him for the harms that his apps cause in children — an issue that 42 state attorneys general are now suing him over.

Last summer, the threats against Zuckerberg turned newly personal. In 2020, Zuckerberg and his wife had donated $419.5 million to fund nonpartisan election infrastructure projects. (Another effort that had seemingly generated no goodwill for him or Meta whatsoever.) All that the money had done was to help people vote safely during the pandemic. But Republicans twisted Zuckerberg’s donation into a scandal; Trump — who lost the election handily but insisted it had been stolen from him — accused Zuckerberg of plotting against him. 

“We are watching him closely,” Trump wrote in a coffee-table book published ahead of the 2024 election, “and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

By the end of 2024, Zuckerberg had given up on finding any middle path through the polarized and opposite criticisms leveled against him by Republicans and Democrats. His rival Elon Musk had spent the past year showing how Republican party support can be bought — cheaply. 

In business and in life, Zuckerberg’s motivation has only ever been to win. And a doddering, transactional Trump presented Meta with a rare opportunity for a fresh start.

All they would have to do is whatever Trump wanted them to do.

II. The announcements

On Tuesday, Meta announced the most significant changes to its content moderation policies since the aftermath of the 2016 election. The changes include:

  • Ending its fact-checking program, which funds third-party organizations to check the claims in viral Facebook and Instagram posts and downrank them when they are found to contain falsehoods. It will be replaced with a clone of Community Notes, X’s volunteer fact-checking program.
  • Eliminating restrictions on some forms of speech previously considered harmful, including some criticisms of immigrants, women, and transgender people.
  • Re-calibrating automated content moderation systems to prioritize only high-severity violations of content policy, such as those involving drugs and terrorism, and reviewing lower-severity violations only when reported by users. (This sounds boring but might be the most important change of all, as we’ll get to)
  • Re-introducing discussion of current events, which the company calls “civic content,” into Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
  • Moving content moderation teams from California to Texas to fight the perception that Meta’s moderation reflects a liberal Californian bias. (Never mind that the company has always had content moderation teams based in Texas, or that it was Zuckerberg and not the moderators who set the company’s policies.)

Zuckerberg announced these changes in an Instagram Reel; Joel Kaplan, a Republican operative and longtime Meta executive who last week replaced Nick Clegg as the company’s president of public policy, discussed the changes in an appearance on “Fox and Friends.” (See transcripts of both here.)

One way to understand these changes is as a marketing exercise, intended to convey a sense of profound change to an audience of one. In this, Meta appears to have succeeded; Trump today called the company’s changes “excellent” and said that the company has “come a long way.” (“Mr. Trump also said Meta’s change was ‘probably’ a result of the threats he had made against the company and Mr. Zuckerberg,” dryly noted the Times’ Mike Isaac and Theodore Schleifer.)

Whether this will be enough to get Trump to end the current antitrust prosecution against Meta, or otherwise advocate for the company in regulatory affairs, remains to be seen. By the cynical calculus of the company’s communications and policy teams, though, one assumes that Trump’s comments inspired a round of high-fives in the company’s Washington, DC offices.

But these changes are likely to substantially increase the amount of harmful speech on Meta’s platforms, according to 10 current and former employees who spoke to Platformer on Tuesday.

Start with the end of Meta’s fact-checking partnerships, which perhaps generated the most headlines of the company’s changes on Tuesday. While the company has been gradually lowering its investment in fact-checking for a couple years now, Meta’s abandonment of the project will have real effects: on the fact-checking organizations for whom Meta was a primary source of revenue, but also in the Facebook and Instagram feeds of which Meta is an increasingly begrudging steward. (snip-MORE. Go read; he left Substack because of the nazis, and made Platformer to get his writing to people. It’s free to read, and you don’t have to subscribe, either.)

Some The Majority Report clips

Seriously? Totally crazy shit, and yes most done by maga cultists.

Wow! This has taken a long time.  I had hoped to do it every day.   But I have been at this since 4 am and it is now 12 pm when I am finishing it.  I love sharing the horrible shit the right wing thinks, the things the cult wants to do.  If everyone likes these posts so they can choose what to read or ignore let me know.  If no one wants them then I am wasting 8 hours of my life.   Love and hugs to all.  PS.  On the other side even with my issues I am feeling a lot more energized.  It seems I go one 24 hour period with no sleep and then sleep nearly 12 hours … and repeat.  Love all of you, really feel good right now. 

But please let me know what you feel of these posts.  Do they keep you informed?  Do they help?  As to if I listen yes, I have decided to post the meme post twice a week because the majority of the few responces I got implied they were too many in each post.  So the one I have now worked on for several days will be posted tomorrow morning and since only one person said they cared about the day, I will now try to do them on Wednesday and Sunday.  However the voting is still open if I get a new majority of people who feel a different day is better for them.   Again as always, loves and hugs.   Scottie

GOP Rep: “On This Day In 2021 Thousands Of Peaceful Grandmothers Took A Self-Guided Tour Of The Capitol”

BEHOLD THE PEACEFUL GRANDMOTHERS:

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BEHOLD THE PEACEFUL GRANDMOTHERS:

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BEHOLD THE PEACEFUL GRANDMOTHERS:

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Megachurch Pastor: God Told Me That He’ll Kill Biden For “Giving The Medal Of Freedom To George Soros”

 

Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️12 hours ago

TAX THE CHURCH…
Feed the poor.

TAX THE CHURCH…
House the homeless.

TAX THE CHURCH…
Heal the sick.

TAX THE CHURCH…
Drive the dealers from the gates like Jesus did.

Cultist Crashes During Livestream While Singing Praise To Glorious Leader: “M-A-G-A! Whoa! Oh Shit! Oh No!”
McDonald’s Caves To Anti-LGBTQ/Diversity Campaign

White male bosses, black / brown low level employees without a chance of promotion. White women secretaries / assistants. In other words, 1950 to 1960.

Florida Police Review Boards Dissolve Under New Law

The law assures that only law enforcement agencies will investigate reports of misconduct by law enforcement officers.

perversatile Uncle Mark – Now with caffeine12 hours ago

Pepperage Farm remembers…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/22/ron-desantis-police-relocation-violent-records
DeSantis’s $13.5m police program lures officers with violent records to Florida
Governor’s incentive scheme recruits officers with history of excessive violence or who have been arrested since signing up

Johnny Wyeknot14 hours ago

Civilian review boards have a chilling effect on police misconduct and coverups so of course they have to go.

Prophet Dispatches “One Million Special Ops” Angels “With Flesh On Them” To Guard Trump’s Inauguration

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Kat Kerr declares that people who stole the election will “hang on meat hooks in hell right next to Hitler.” Kat Kerr says 150-foot angels will kill her critics. Kat Kerr says a talking scroll in heaven will soon prove the “legality” that Trump is still president. Kat Kerr says she heard God “laughing loudly” at Biden’s fake electoral college count. Kat Kerr says Jesus took her to a football game in heaven where he always wins at every sport. Kat Kerr says Jesus personally gave her the commission to draw a portrait of God and that she touched God’s hair while visiting heaven to create the drawing. Kat Kerr personally dispatches 1000 “special ops angels” to ensure Trump is reelected. Kat Kerr assigns 100 million angels to guard the Republican convention. Kat Kerr claims God destroyed the Bahamas with a hurricane due to all the underground sex trafficking tunnels. Kat Kerr claims she saw angels bombarding Trump protesters to drive out their “demonic infections.” Kat Kerr claims she waved at the blond angels guarding the tomb of Jesus. Kat Kerr claims she met Whitney Houston in heaven. Kat Kerr claims the GOP secretly won the 2018 House midterms by pretending to be Democrats. Kat Kerr claims all the aborted babies in heaven had a dance party after Kavanaugh was sworn in. Kat Kerr claims God has a rainbow colored pet unicorn. Kat Kerr claims she met Jesus in person and he was totally hot. Kat Kerr clams that once you reach heaven, Jesus personally throws you a dance party in his mansion and serves you the delicious desserts he baked himself. Kat Kerry claims God personally told her the results of the next five presidential elections. Kat Kerr “takes authority” over volcanoes, hurricanes, and wildfires in the name of Jesus, failing to stop each event.

Felon-Elect: “Biden Is Making The Transition Difficult”
Trump: Canadians Will “LOVE Being The 51st State”
GOP Senator’s Husband Refuses Harris’s Handshake
Shapiro: Jimmy Carter Was “Evil, Vindictive, Not Nice”
NYT: Far-Right Austrian Party On Verge Of Taking Power
Trump: Tax Cuts For Rich Will Be “Made Up With Tariffs”
Musk Asks If US Should “Liberate Britain From Tyranny”
Bannon: We Will “Torment And Destroy” DOJ Officials

Bannon’s border wall scam trial is set to start February 25.

BREAKING: Federal Judge Finds Giuliani In Contempt

Why Are Conservatives So Obsessed With Trans Kids?

Some trans short news videos.

President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to roll back rights for transgender people during his campaign. Kate Sosin, LGBTQ+ reporter for The 19th, joins “America Decides” to discuss how those Americans are preparing for the incoming Trump administration.

Three transgender youths and their families from Arizona traveled across the country to ensure their voices were heard on the steps of the Supreme Court as justices heard oral arguments for the most important transgender rights case the court has ever reviewed — one that could have significant consequences on the future of lifesaving gender-affirming care for youth in the country. About a third of the teenagers in the United States who identify as transgender live in states that have limited access to puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapies. In an election cycle that saw Republicans spend at least $215 million on attack ads about transgender rights, these families share their fears, hopes, and determination to fight for their right to exist. Lucy Kafanov explores the emotional toll of anti-trans legislation, the fight for bodily autonomy, and what it means for trans youth to lose access to life-saving care.

Ben Shapiro vs Neil deGrasse Tyson: The WAR Over Transgender Issues

Ok I know I posted a clip of this from a different channel but this one gives more of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s full answer with a calmer host who did not chop it up.   I like this version better because you can see how forceful and direct Tyson is being and that he is clearly amused by the trans hater who think someone’s gender expression is their business.  It also shows Shapiro’s growing apprehension as he realizes that Tyson doesn’t agree with him.  He clearly thought incorrectly that Tyson would echo his own bigoted opinion.  He gets flustered because at the point he normally bullies someone and talks over them, Tyson doesn’t let him do it.  This is a beautiful short well crafted answer to any transphobe.   Hugs

Join renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and political commentator Ben Shapiro in a thought-provoking debate exploring one of today’s most complex and polarizing topics: transgender identity and rights.

In this intellectual face-off, Tyson brings his scientific expertise and philosophical perspective, emphasizing individual identity, societal progress, and inclusivity. Meanwhile, Shapiro approaches the topic from a traditionalist and legalistic angle, focusing on biological realities, societal norms, and policy implications.

The discussion between Ben Shaprio and Neil deGrasse Tyson dives deep into the intersections of science, culture, and ethics, tackling questions about gender identity, biological sex, free speech, and the role of government in regulating such matters. As always, both figures present their arguments with their characteristic wit and rigor, challenging viewers to think critically about the nuanced dimensions of the topic.

Whether you’re here to learn, debate, or deepen your understanding of the issues, this conversation promises to spark reflection and dialogue. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below—respectful discussion is encouraged! 

Happy New Year?? | Christopher Titus Armageddon Update

Trigger Warnings. My feelings about Christmas what happened to me as a child.

Hello everyone.  This is a hard post but one I feel I must make for my own continued healing and to explain why this season hits me so hard.  Before I get to the abuse let me tell everyone that yesterday taking things out of the car I was standing sideways with my knee pressed hard against the seat of the car as I reached across needing just an inch or two to grab the package … and as I strained to grab the parcel my knee snapped, I heard a grinding sound and fell to the ground.  I fell to the ground seeing stars.  

Ron rushed to me as soon as he saw me on the ground, we got me into my room and realized that my knee cap had been pushed into the cartilage beneath the cap.  What ever happened to my knee caused me agony and lost me the ability to stand or use my leg.  The pain made moving my leg in any way mind-blowing excoriating pain.  Remember I take two kinds of morphine and other pain relievers.  Ron got my walker from the bedroom but even using that was not able to help me move around.  I went to bed.   During the night I was OK if I did not move.  The longer I stayed still the more the knee healed and the few times I had to get up to pee, well I had the walker and now understood how to hold my leg.  The more it healed, the better it got.  So this morning I was able to get up, and using the walker make my way to the kitchen and make my coffee.   Then on to the Pink Palace to start my day.  

====================================================================

Now to the reason for my post.  I seriously warn for abuse trigger warnings.   Please.  The reason for this post, I am going to post something I wrote to a fellow survivor about why I get so withdrawn during this time.  I appreciate his care and concern, plus I want you to know that it was Randy my grand real brother who talked to me this morning and made it possible for me to deal with posting this time in my life.  I won’t include what he replied when I showed him the stuff I wanted to post but I assure you he was a comfort unparalleled in giving me the strength to do this.  When I look to the past, what happened in late 2013 and in 2014 forward I wonder if I would be here if not for the unflagging love and care of my grand brother Randy.

Below is what I wrote to a fellow survivor who was worried about me.  

=========================================================

…

Christmas always brings depression and a desire to hide or withdraw from life for me.  Short story … it provided more time for abusers to use me and more of them around.  During the weeks leading up to Christmas day as presents were placed under the tree which I knew better than go near the hell spawn would mess with their presents to figure out what they were, then when it was discovered I was of coursed blamed and punished for it in front of everyone.   
 
But the worst was Christmas day, and despite what I knew had happened in the past and would happen that day I would get excited thinking of the gifts.  After the nighttime / early morning rapes / giving oral to both males and females, I would be told where to sit.  One of the hell spawns would pass the gifts out, one at a time.  When it was my turn I would carefully unwrap the present even though I was being told to speed up, then give the required thanks to the person it was from, then place it on the floor next to me.  
 
After all the gifts had been unwrapped while the adults gathered their gifts to stash in their room, the hell spawn gathered around me where I still sat.  They took what they wanted of what I was “given”, most of which would have been bought knowing they would be the ones to get it.  I was left with the clothing, socks, shirts, a pair of pants or two.   One Christmas I got a coloring book that they let me keep but they took the crayons.   I would take my gifts to my hallway mat until I was nearly 8 and got a bed of my own in the male hell spawns room as we moved and there was no longer a hallway for me to be made sleep in.  I knew better than to complain or make a fuss, it was just the way things were, my place there, my life.  To cry or complain would get me a public punishment and then a private worse punishment for ruining their Christmas.  The private one would be very humiliatingly to insure it stuck with me.  I learned not to complain, just shut down.  
 
Anyway you asked if I have gotten any help.  No.  Two of my doctors want me to get a therapist, along with a neurologist, and several other specialists for different symptoms I have.   I do not have the income for all the doctors, tests, and scans these doctors claim I need.  Maybe this year.   I get through Christmastime by withdrawing and shutting down, kept sane only by my husband and my best friend, and the little internet communications I feel well enough to doing.  Mostly during this time I watch videos, movies, not really seeing the screen, not even remembering what I watched, just existing for one more minute, one more hour, one more day.   
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Grand for me this year I got a true real Christmas gift.  One with no costs of my body for exchange as in my childhood if I wanted something.  When at my youngest even food came with me providing sexual favors.  

Yes this year I got a Christmas gift with no strings attached.  Yes Ron gives me those but this one was special.  My brother Randy gave me money to spend on me, not on the house, not on others, but just on me.   I have been working for years with a broken keyboard which the backlighting has given out, and my mouse now takes many clicks to make work.  Even Ron was frustrated by it during the times we sat together paying bills and wanted me to replace them.  

So remembering the spirit this gift was given, I used it to buy the following things.  It will make my life so much better.   I got them in white.  Thank you my grand brother.   Hugs

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/mx-master-3s.910-006558.html

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/mx-keys-s.920-011559.html