Senate hearings on Thursday will decide whether or not Tulsi Gabbard and Kashyap Patel are the top government appointees of US President Donald Trump.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was questioned numerous times on Wednesday during a contentious Senate hearing regarding his nomination for the position of health secretary for Trump.
Trump also made significant announcements regarding immigration and deportation policies, including signing the Laken Riley Act, which gives federal authorities greater authority to deport undocumented immigrants accused of crimes, and plans to send undocumented immigrants to Guantanamo Bay.
What are the most recent announcements and upcoming hearings, in our opinion?
Guantanamo Bay
Trump has announced plans to transform the notorious US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into a holding centre for 30,000 undocumented immigrants.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will expand and run the existing Guantanamo facility, which Trump designated as the “border czar” in November.
Trump claimed that because his administration “didn’t trust” their countries of origin to hold them, 30, 000 beds will be available to house “the worst” undocumented immigrants, that is those with criminal records.
Cuban’s president criticised the plan. The new US government announces the imprisonment of thousands of migrants at Guantanamo Naval Base, which is located in illegally occupied territory Cuba, and will place them next to the well-known prisons for torture and illegal detention, according to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in an act of brutality.
En acto de brutalidad, nuevo gobierno de EEUU anuncia encarcelamiento en Base Naval en Guantánamo, ubicada en territorio de #Cuba ilegalmente ocupado, de miles de migrantes que expulsa forzosamente, a los que ubicará junto a las conocidas cárceles de tortura y detención ilegal.
Since 1898, the US military base has been housed at Guantanamo Bay, which is situated on Cuba’s southeast coast, following its capture during the Spanish-American War.
The facility was used to detain hundreds of men who had allegedly connected to “terrorism” after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. Most of the time, however, were released without charge, while many spent up to 20 years behind bars.
Laken Riley Act
On Wednesday, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities more authority to deport undocumented immigrants accused of crimes.
The bipartisan act, which was the first piece of legislation to be passed by Trump’s second term, was named in honor of Georgian nursing student Riley, who was killed last year by a Venezuelan national who had entered the US illegally.
“She was a light of warmth and kindness”, Trump said during a ceremony attended by Riley’s parents and sister. All I can say is, “What’s happening today is a tremendous tribute to your daughter.” It’s so sad that we have to be doing this”.
The legislation , will require federal authorities to “detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully present in the US or did not possess the necessary documents when applying for admission, and (2) has been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential elements of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting”.
Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Senate hearing
During a contentious Senate hearing regarding his nomination for Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was quizzed repeatedly.
Kennedy, who has been picked to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), spent most of Wednesday’s hearing seeking to dispel the idea that he is “anti-vaccine”.
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine and anti-industry – I am neither. I am pro-safety”, he told the Senate Finance Committee. “I believe that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare”, he added.
However, Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and son of the late US Senator Robert F Kennedy, has become a politically polarising figure and one of Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominees. On Thursday at 15:00 GMT, he will have a second hearing.
How many votes does he need to be confirmed?
He needs 51 votes for Senate confirmation. With Republicans holding 53 seats, he has a good chance.
However, before reaching the full Senate, Kennedy must first pass the Senate Finance Committee, where Republicans hold a narrow majority with 14 members to the Democrats ‘ 13.
What other Thursday confirmation hearings are taking place?
On Thursday at 14: 30 and 15: 00, Kennedy and two other Trump nominees will have hearings for their jobs in the administration.
One of them is , Tulsi Gabbard.
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was her choice.
What is this role for? The DNI advises the president, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council on matters relating to national security and oversees 18 spy agencies.
What is Gabbard’s background? She represented Hawaii in the Democratic Congress. She is also an Iraq war veteran, having served in the US military. Gambard served as a platoon leader in the military police from 2008 to 2009. Last year, she joined the Republican Party.
Gabbard has not held any senior government positions, unlike other DNIs, and has not had any prior experience in an intelligence position. The House Committee on Homeland Security had two years of experience.
Gabbard has criticized US intervention abroad, including in the Syrian war, in favor of whistleblowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. She has also been accused of boosting Russian propaganda.
Three days after Russia launched its , full-scale invasion , of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Gabbard posted a video on her X account urging the US, Russia and Ukraine to “put geopolitics aside” and accept that Ukraine “will be a neutral country” without being a member of military alliances such as , NATO.
She claimed that Ukraine has more than 25 US-funded biolabs in a new video that she posted on X in March 2022. She wrote it after a , claim originated in Moscow , that US-backed bioweapons labs were operating in Ukraine.
She criticized the administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama for supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2015. In 2017, during a secret trip to Syria, Gabbard met al-Assad, she told CNN.
Gabbard has also criticised pro-Palestine protesters in the US in recent months, describing them as “puppets” of a “radical Islamist organisation” in an apparent reference to Hamas.
As a former CIA case officer, I witnessed the men and women who sacrificed their lives every day for this nation. I am shocked that Tulsi Gabbard has been chosen to lead DNI. (1/3)
While lawmakers from both parties have , raised concerns about Gabbard’s nomination, Republicans have increasingly come to support her. She will need almost all Republican senators to vote yes in order to be confirmed, given the Senate’s slim margins.
Kashyap Patel, known as Kash, is also facing a hearing.
He was chosen to serve as the FBI’s director.
What is this role for? The FBI has a number of legal representatives, according to the bureau’s website, which enable it to look into federal crimes and threats to national security, as well as gather intelligence and assist other law enforcement agencies.
Alongside the deputy director, the director oversees all FBI activities, including criminal investigations, counterterrorism efforts, cybercrime, counterintelligence and national security threats.
What is Patel’s background? As a 40-year-old lawyer with little government experience, Patel joined the administration of then-President Trump in 2019, rising rapidly from the ranks by showing what some media described as his “complete devotion” to Trump.
Patel held important positions in Trump’s first year, including leading the National Security Council’s counterterrorism division and becoming the Department of Defense’s chief of staff.
He has been given the task of leading the nation’s most significant federal law enforcement agency, just like his boss. He has spoken out against the FBI.
Trump said Patel would restore “fidelity, bravery and integrity” to the agency. According to Trump, the FBI would “end the growing crime epidemic in America, end the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the border” under Patel.
When he appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow, he is expected to highlight agency errors.
Which Trump nominees have already been confirmed?
A flimsy but largely ununified Republican majority in the Senate, which has shown little willingness to disagree with the president’s decisions, has bolstered Trump’s choices.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the chamber, compared to 47 for Democrats and independents.
The nominees who have received confirmation so far are listed below.
Trump’s immigration crackdown
On Wednesday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it had detained 814 people in a single day and arrested 1, 016 of them. This was an increase from 969 on Tuesday.
Additionally, the Trump administration reverses a Biden-era decision and opens the door for more people to be deported after extending their deportation protections for Venezuelans. More than 600,000 Venezuelans are already living in the US as a result of the decision.
The Temporary Protected Status is intended to assist Americans who are unable to return home safely and immediately as a result of a natural disaster or an armed conflict, according to a report from The New York Times. For thousands of people who had anticipated deportation protection, the decision is a significant setback.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to find ways to deport Venezuelans and other migrants from nations that limit the number of deportees they accept. When asked about the possibility of sending migrants to the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she said that was being evaluated by the administration.
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Source: Aljazeera
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