Categories: World News

Republicans attempt to exploit New Orleans attack to pass Trump agenda | Republicans

US Senate Republicans are trying to exploit the New Year’s Eve attack that killed 14 victims in New Orleans and injured dozens more to push through Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominations and speed up the new president’s anti-immigration agenda — despite the fact that the attacker was a U.S. citizen born and raised in East Texas.

Several Senate Republicans appeared on political shows Sunday to call for urgent approval of Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks, who face a difficult confirmation process. They include Kash Patel, Trump’s choice as FBI director; Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense; and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

Senators seized on Wednesday’s devastating attack in New Orleans, in which a van flying an Islamic State flag drove at high speed through the city’s French Quarter, killing more than one dozen partygoers before police killed the attacker in a shootout. They said any delay in confirming controversial cabinet picks would harm U.S. national security.

Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina and one of Trump’s top loyalists, said he would vote for any of the president-elect’s nominees. “Do them now, do them quickly, do them all,” he told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “We are under attack here – we are at war. »

Graham added that what he called the “broken border” was a “national security nightmare.”

“Every day we don’t close this border is another day terrorists come in,” Graham said.

The unfounded connection between the New Orleans attack and border security was made immediately afterward by Trump and leading congressional Republicans. In the aftermath of the attack, Mike Johnson, the Louisiana representative who was just re-elected speaker of the House, said he had “sounded the alarm” about what he called “the “obvious concern about terrorism and the wide open border, the idea that dangerous people were arriving here en masse and forming potential terrorist cells.”

The sole assailant in the New Orleans murders, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was born in Beaumont, Texas, and was living in Houston at the time. He served in the United States Army for 13 years.

He only needed to drive about six hours east – crossing only the Texas-Louisiana border – to position himself for the attack he had launched.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News’ This Week that the country faces a “very challenging threat landscape.” But he added that “the assailant who carried out the terrorist attack in New Orleans was born in the United States, raised in the United States and served in our armed forces.”

“It’s not about the border,” he said.

Much of the new Republican push to overcome opposition to Trump’s picks is focused on Patel, his pick for FBI director. Patel has no experience working within the bureau and has been criticized for threatening to close the FBI’s headquarters in the Hoover Building and turn it into a museum of the “deep state” – effectively tearing the institution apart even which he would lead if confirmed. and for days he has been at the center of efforts to prevent another attack in New Orleans.

Jim Banks, who is in his first week as Indiana’s U.S. senator, told CNN’s State of the Union that — in his opinion — “Kash is right.”

“Over the past four years, we have seen FBI leadership focus more on left-wing political causes, going after parents at school board meetings instead of going after (ISIS) members. ” he said.

One of the first Republican leaders to call for quick confirmations was John Thune, the new Senate majority leader. Hours after the New Orleans attack, he described it as “a clear example of why the Senate must put President Trump’s national security team in place as quickly as possible.”

On Sunday, he took a more cautious line, declining to tell NBC News’ Meet the Press whether he would vote for Patel. “My job is to make sure (candidates) get a fair process, and so I intend to do that,” he said.

Thune was asked what he thought about Patel’s target list of 60 political enemies — or “government gangsters,” as he calls them — who he promised to pursue if approved for director of the FBI. “Are you sure that Kash Patel’s priorities would be to fight crime, protect national security rather than settle political scores? » Thune was asked.

Thune said the FBI “needs reform” and a “good makeover” to restore public trust in the institution. “I think (Patel) understands that this is our mission,” Thune remarked.

Other key members of Trump’s desired national security team also face obstacles in their bid to be confirmed by the Senate. Hegseth is fighting allegations of sexual misconduct made against him in 2017, which he denies. Gabbard has faced widespread criticism for her alleged sympathy for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Already Trump’s nominee, attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz was forced to step down after being indicted for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl during his freshman year of high school on the team .

Trump has made it clear that he views the rapid formation of a cabinet composed of people who owe him unquestionable loyalty as a top priority for the start of his new presidency.

theguardian

remon Buul

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