The key moments from a big day of confirmation hearings: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of Of the policy desktopA night bulletin that provides the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign.

In today’s edition, Sahil Kapur breaks down everything you need to know about a trio of key confirmation audiences of the Senate. In addition, Matt Dixon examines how President Donald Trump’s response to the tragic plane crash in DC quickly gave a political turn.

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Contrades of a great day of confirmation audiences

By Sahil Kapur

On a crucial day for the nominees of President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel descended to Capitol Hill for confirmation audiences.

The nominees for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, director of National Intelligence and director of the FBI have generated controversy for a similar reason: each has launched amazing criticisms to the entities that have been chosen to lead.

And everyone sought to clarify or minimize past positions or comments that have taken them hot to the senators who will decide whether to confirm them.

Here are the key conclusions:

Kennedy faces skepticism of a key senator of the Republican party: After repeatedly challenging Kennedy’s opinions about vaccines, Senator Bill Cassidy, president of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who held Thursday’s audience, said he was “fighting” with Kennedy’s nomination.

The Republican of Louisiana made it clear that he has not decided on his vote and has more questions for Kennedy, a rarity for a Republican president when it comes to a Trump candidate. Cassidy, a doctor, is also found in the Senate Finance Committee, which celebrated a audience for Kennedy on Wednesday and will vote if you inform your full Senate nomination.

Patel breaks with Trump on January 6 stops: According to pointed interrogators, Patel made a break with Trump in his decision to issue pardons or switches for 1,500 criminal defendants on January 6, including those who confessed to assault police officers. Patel argued that certain violent criminals did not deserve clemency.

“I have always rejected any violence against the application of the law, and I have specifically approached any violence against the police on January 6,” he said. “And I do not agree with the switching of any judgment of any person who committed violence against the application of the law.”

Grilled Gabbard on Edward Snowden: The former Democratic congressman from Hawaii was splashed with questions from multiple Republican senators about her past praise of Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who leaked a treasure of classified information before fleeing to Russia, as a “brave complainant.”

Gabbard was not to repudiate his previous comments or call him a “traitor” as they have done multiple members of the committee, saying that he only “violated the law” and revealed important information in doing so.

Of all the nominees who faced hearings on Thursday, Gabbard probably has the most difficult task to prevent republican defections.

Read more conclusions of the audiences of the day →


Trump converts a moment of national mourning into an impulse for his political agenda

By Matt Dixon

Just 11 days after his presidency, Donald Trump has faced a national tragedy that claimed dozens of lives after a passenger plane that transported 64 people collided in the air with an army helicopter in the Washington region, DC, DC, Wednesday night.

His response avoided the usual play book that the presidents generally follow after a tragedy, just when his campaign broke the political norms over and over again.

Without waiting for a complete investigation, or a list of the victims, the president began to point with the fingers and the attack. Instead of using it as a time to renounce political combat and focus on victims, he took the opportunity to boost his agenda against efforts of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

His approach moved the attention of recovery efforts, victims and research on the accident with a debate about one of his greatest political objectives. And while Trump faced criticism for his management, he was in line with how he has avoided the way traditional politicians operate.

Trump quickly released a publication of the publication of social networks by the accident on Wednesday night, before many events are known.

In an informative press session of the White House on Thursday, he read a more traditional speech expressing condolences, but then launched to comments that felt more like something of a campaign rally, calling a democratic official “a disaster”, punishing to his predecessors and chasing Dei, despite any evidence until these policies contributed to collision in the air.

“I have been a researcher for 35 years, investigating aircraft accidents, and when it speaks of standards, what we have just seen does not meet the published international standards of providing information due to an accident,” Jeff Guzzetti, former researcher for the federal administration Aviation and the National Board of Transportation Security, said MSNBC.

New employee: During the press conference, Trump also appointed Christopher Rocheau as an interim commissioner of the FAA, a position he had been vacant.

Read more than Matt →

More consequences of shock: Congress members express concern for airspace full of people and “very complex” around DC after collision in the air, the first commercial accident in the United States since 2009. Read more →

Follow the live coverage here →



🗞️ Today’s main stories

  • ☑️ Hire at will: Vice President JD Vance has earned a unique privilege within the White House: release to hire who wants, without Trump’s interference or his main assistants. Read more →
  • 🔵 ‘A little victory’: After fighting to respond to Trump’s whirlwind in the position of the first week, the Democrats have begun to find their balance in the fight for the White House attempt to impose a radical freezing in federal aid. Read more →
  • 🚫 Absent: The Democrats boycotted the vote of the Senate Budget Committee to advance in the Russell Vought nomination to be a white house director to the full Senate. Read more →
  • 😨 Lash: Fear, anger and confusion have swept federal agencies as workers deal with a Trump orders that see as an effort to “scare them” of their work. Read more →
  • 📝 Executive Fallout: Trans service members that could be affected by Trump’s recent executive order say they will continue doing their job and plan to fight the move. Read more →

That’s all of the politics desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Faith Wardwell.

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