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Closing the tabs …

With Mr. Gaetz drawing the most fire, it became increasingly clear that confirmation was unlikely. Mr. Trump had privately told people that Mr. Gaetz had less than even odds of surviving the confirmation process, but he was making calls on his behalf in the hopes of shifting what the Senate would consider acceptable.

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Mr. Gaetz told people close to him that after conversations with senators and members of their staff, he had concluded that there were at least four Republican senators in the next Congress who were implacably opposed to his nomination: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and the newly elected John Curtis of Utah. …

Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said it was “pretty obvious” that Mr. Gaetz did not have the votes to be confirmed.

Ed: It’s been pretty obvious since the announcement. It’s not just the Ethics Committee report either; it’s that Gaetz has not done much to build relationships with his fellow Republicans. I doubt it was just four, too. Gaetz and the transition team probably ran into those four and decided not to test it any further. 

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Ed: He certainly did the smart thing, under the circumstances. He limited the damage and got out of the way of weeks of negative news cycles. That will benefit Trump in the long run, and even in the short run with his nomination of Pam Bondi. Gaetz’ flop won’t even make the weekend news cycles now. Trump owes Gaetz for that, and I suspect he’ll give Gaetz a spot in the West Wing.  

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On Thursday, some Republican senators defended Mr. Hegseth, emphasizing that no charges were filed in the case. After meeting with him in Mr. Vance’s Senate office, Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee attributed the allegations to “the media’s focus on personal attacks,” calling Mr. Hegseth “the right guy to inspire the Pentagon.”

Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, referred to accusations as “press reports.”

“I think he’s going to be in pretty good shape,” Mr. Wicker said after meeting with Mr. Hegseth for roughly 20 minutes.

Ed: I know and like Pete personally — he started doing radio on our weekend show in Minneapolis shortly after coming back from his tour of duty — so take my perspective with a grain of salt. With that said, I think Pete is in far better position than Gaetz, personally and politically, especially given Pete’s work on behalf of veterans. He’s going to get a far bigger benefit-of-doubt factor in the Senate GOP caucus. 

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Ed: Er … what’s an MSNBC? 

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ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl reports that one senior Trump adviser said the message to lawmakers is, “If you are on the wrong side of the vote, you’re buying yourself a primary.”

“That is all,” the adviser told Karl. “And there’s a guy named Elon Musk who is going to finance it.”

“The president gets to decide his Cabinet. No one else,” the adviser added.

Ed: That’s definitely an old-fashioned version of political hardball, and it will at least act as a little chin music for now. However, that’s not going to work well on Capitol Hill. Like it or not, this is the Senate that Trump needs to get his agenda passed, and he can’t afford to lose it at the midterms and waste the last two years of his presidency. 

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Ed: Someone owes me a new monitor.

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Ed: This is how you strike fear into your opponents. Not with stunts, but with well-considered strategic choices. 

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Ed: Amen, Jason, and thank you.