While President Trump has hit the ground running, he needs his Cabinet to be confirmed so that the new secretaries can start working and get the Executive Branch fully staffed.

The Senate did manage to get one thing done yesterday amidst the pomp and circumstance, and confirm Marco Rubio as Secretary of State on a unanimous vote of 99-0. He is the first Cabinet member to be confirmed, and this morning, Vice President Vance administered the oath of office to Rubio.

Rubio’s confirmation was easy compared to the next likely vote at hand, Secretary of Defense pick Pete Hegseth. Despite the wailing and moaning and beclowning by Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth made it out of committee on a party line vote.

The panel voted 14-13 to advance Hegseth to the full Senate, according to two people familiar with the process, just hours after President Donald Trump was sworn into office. All Armed Services Democrats opposed Hegseth.

Senate Republicans are likely to push through the confirmation of the former Fox News host and Army veteran, although the vote may not occur for several days.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune needs Democrats to agree to speed up consideration of Hegseth’s nomination. Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he expects Democrats to block quick action on Hegseth, pushing a confirmation vote to Wednesday or Thursday.

To cover the gap in leadership in such a crucial role, President Trump has appointed Robert Salesses to serve as acting secretary until Hegseth is confirmed.

Robert Salesses, deputy director of the Pentagon’s Washington Headquarters Service, will fill in as acting secretary of defense, and three other career Defense Department civilians will be filling in as acting heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

To serve in the posts, the incoming Trump administration needed senior executives at the Pentagon who had already been confirmed by the Senate. Salesses is a retired Marine who served in the Gulf War and earned a Bronze Star.

He has been leading the Washington Headquarters Service, which includes all of the capital region support services, including facilities management and the office of general counsel and others that support the military branches and Pentagon leadership.

And yes, we need Hegseth at the Pentagon immediately. Did we mention that Donald Trump has been busy? He’s been busy.

The Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, has been fired over her total mismanagement of the border, low recruitment, severe leadership deficiencies, her operational failures and her focus on DEI initiatives.

America demands merit again! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dK09SZvpja

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 21, 2025

Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, 61, has been terminated by the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman, the official said.

Fagan has demonstrated leadership deficiencies, operational failures and an inability to advance the strategic objectives of the Coast Guard.

These include the failure to address border security threats, insufficient leadership in recruitment and retention, mismanagement in acquiring key acquisitions such as icebreakers and helicopters, excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and an “erosion of trust” over the mishandling and cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor, which was the Coast Guard’s internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.

Fagan is accused of ineffective deployment of Coast Guard assets to support national border security, including in intercepting fentanyl and other illicit substances. She also had insufficient coordination with DHS to prioritize operations along maritime borders.

Fagan has only been in charge of the Coast Guard for two and a half years, and when she got the job, it was clear that former president Joe Biden had nominated her because of HIS obsession with promoting “the first woman” to lead things. Well, now she’s out, and an acting secretary had to announce that, too. Kristi Noem, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Homeland Security, has also been voted out of committee, 13-2. Her confirmation by the full Senate is next, but has yet to be scheduled.

Scott Bessent, Trump’s choice for Treasury Secretary, has been voted out of the Senate Finance Committee with a bipartisan vote of 16-11 just today. Doug Burgum, who is up for Secretary of the Interior, will be getting a committee vote on Thursday.

And Elise Stefanik, who has been nominated to be United Nations Ambassador, is having her confirmation hearing today. Given her record on pointing out anti-Semitism in academia, everyone knows that she will have no issue pointing out the same systemic problems at the UN.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), President Donald Trump’s nominee to represent the U.S. at the United Nations, on Tuesday painted the international organization as a body beset by bias against Israel, nefarious Chinese influence and ineffective peacekeeping efforts.

But she argued the U.N. isn’t irredeemable and pledged that she’d help usher “strong American leadership” at the multilateral body.

She pledged to be a strong advocate for Israel, declaring that the spate of U.N. resolutions against Israel amid its conflict with the Palestinians shows the U.S. “is not meeting the mission of international peace and security.” She said she’d work to review the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon to review how it allowed Iran-backed proxy Hezbollah to rearm and regroup.

Stefanik also said she’d focus on reforming the U.N. system and ensuring that U.S. funding is “going to programs through the U.N. that work, that have a basis in the rule of law, that have a basis in transparency and accountability, and strengthen our national security and our partnerships.” She specifically called out the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the main agency tasked with distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza, saying it turned a blind eye to local workers’ ties to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But leave it to Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) to beclown himself by asking Stefanik’s opinion on Elon Musk’s supposed “Nazi salute” from yesterday. Any idiot with half a brain would know that the context was given in Musk’s next sentence – “my heart goes out to you.” Guess what? Murphy is the idiot with less than half a brain. And Stefanik flattened him.

Democrat Senator Chris Murphy shared an edited video of Elon’s speech and hand gestures and spread the lie that it was a Nazi salute and today, he attempted to gaslight UN ambassador nominee Elise Stefanik into believing the fake news.

Stefanik wasn't having it and completely… pic.twitter.com/xlWs7vZGta

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 21, 2025

Her ready reply even got Elon Musk’s attention.

Stefanik is awesome

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2025

This bullshit is ridiculous and is why Donald Trump won. Democrats have apparently learned absolutely nothing, and are just going to keep being clowns. I guess that works out for the normies who can see through this insanity.

The wins are going to keep coming, and there is nothing that the Democrats can do to stop Trump’s nominees from moving forward. They are going to lose the battle over Hegseth, but they are likely gearing up for a battle over Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Brace yourselves, everyone. There are going to be plenty of stupid stunts by Democrats ahead.

Featured image: Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore on Flickr, cropped, CC BY-SA 2.0