A furious Democrat lawmaker on Tuesday delivered what he felt to be dark truths about President-elect Donald Trump, his would-be Cabinet, lawmakers willing to serve them, and the people they plan to serve.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), ranking member of the House Rules committee, delivered a lengthy screed against Trump and the Republicans ready to back him as he returns to the White House in 2025.
“The new administration is leaking plans to court-martial military officers who are not sufficiently loyal,” McGovern said. “Isn’t that usually how things go in an authoritarian dictatorship? Purge the military of anyone who might have a spine and refuse to obey an unlawful order? What the hell is going on here? And their Cabinet picks so far? These are like beyond insane.”
McGovern made this declaration in the House of Representatives during an address to his “Republican friends” detailing his concerns about controversial policy and nominations.
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Those nominations include people such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Fox News host Pete Hegseth and former Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz.
McGovern referenced each by reported scandals, such as intelligence community concerns that Gabbard has spread Russian propaganda, Hegseth’s admitted payment to a woman who accused him of sexual assault and Kennedy’s claim that tap water makes children gay.
“This is the dream team?” said McGovern. “Someone who sucks up to foreign dictators and has attracted major concern that they can’t be trusted to protect America’s secrets from our adversaries? Someone who paid hush money to cover up a sexual assault accusation? …Someone who says that tap water turns kids gay?”
McGovern added, “Seriously, it would be funny if it weren’t so sad.”
Then, McGovern raised concerns about recent reports of policy Trump and his allies plan to pursue.
CNN analysts said Monday they were “scared” by reports the Heritage Foundation is pursuing plans to scan government workers’ emails and texts for signs of liberal bias and a Wall Street Journal report that Trump wants to purge disloyal generals.
The bill under debate Tuesday was one that MSNBC analyst Ja’Han Jones described as a “gift to Trump;” H.R. 9495, which would allow the U.S. Treasury to yank tax-exempt status from nonprofits deemed “terrorist supporting organizations.”
McGovern described it as a bill that would grant Trump “a new power to unilaterally accuse an American group of terrorism and then shut them down.”
The Massachusetts Democrat pleaded with his Republican colleagues not to interpret Trump’s Election Day victory as a mandate to grant the president-elect absolute control, but a plea for cheaper groceries.
“They voted for their pocketbooks and frankly I don’t blame them,” he said. ‘Beyond insane’: Furious Dem lashes out at Trump Team on House floor”You know who I do blame? I blame the billionaires who have rigged our country against working people and spent the last four decades squeezing every penny they could out of people. I blame the politicians, including the incoming administration, who have abandoned workers and who have done nothing while the rich get richer and everyone else gets screwed.”
Watch McGovern’s full speech here.
