There is a reason the Founders wrote Article 2, section 2 and clause 2 into the U.S. Constitution. They gave power to the president to nominate people to high office, but that power was not absolute. It limited a president’s authority by giving the Senate the power to advise and consent to those nominations.
Conservatives have rightly criticized the Biden administration for not properly vetting migrants who have entered the country illegally, and in a few cases committed crimes, including murder and rape, while here. If vetting is important when it comes to people crossing our border — and it is — it is equally important when it comes to those who would have power and authority over us in some of our most important Cabinet positions.
The definition of “vetting” ought to be helpful to senators: “The act or process of appraising or checking a person or thing for suitability.” Just because someone may present themselves as having good ideas does not necessarily make them suitable for the job.
Suggestions that the Senate and House should adjourn for 10 days to allow President-elect Trump’s nominees to sail through without hearings is a bad idea that could come back to haunt Trump, his administration and the public.
All the president’s nominees should be vetted, but four deserve more extensive examinations to determine their suitability for the offices they seek. They include Pete Hegseth for secretary of Defense (no experience and charges of sexual assault, which his attorney has denied); Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose radical ideas about vaccinations and other things need more probing; Tulsi Gabbard for director of National Intelligence. Her ties to a radical cult and her favorable comments about Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad and Russia must be explained; and Matt Gaetz for attorney general, whose legal experience is minimal at best. The House Ethics Committee also should release its investigation of Gaetz and what it found concerning charges of sex with a minor and obstruction. Gaetz has denied the charges, and the Justice Department declined to prosecute him. Senators need to hear from each of these nominees and under oath.