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‘Monsters’: The Five Trump Cabinet Secretaries a Top Political Scientist Wants Impeached

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One of the top political scientists in America is calling for five of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries to be impeached, and urging Democrats to adopt a “shadow Cabinet.”

Dr. Norman Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, writes at “The Contrarian” on Substack that it’s time for Democrats to start impeachment proceedings against the five “monsters” in Trump’s Cabinet who are “causing death and destruction, threatening human lives and safety, destroying the rule of law and undermining American national security.”

Dr. Ornstein names those whom he says are “the worst Cabinet members in history”: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

READ MORE: Judge Rules LA Troop Use Illegal as Trump Rants Chicago Is ‘Murder Capital of the World’

Because of the special power of impeachment, House Speaker Mike Johnson would have no choice but to prioritize those proceedings, offering the American public greater insight into “the brutal reality that the misconduct and outrages of these monsters” have created.

They would also require Republicans to “take a stand,” one way or another on a litany of actions, including: “RFK’s deadly move to block the Covid vaccine from children and other vulnerable populations,” “spreading vile and dangerous conspiracy theories,” “firing competent health professionals,” and “stopping vital research on cancer and other deadly diseases. Also, Republicans would have to take a stand on “endorsing Gabbard outing an undercover CIA agent, eviscerating our intelligence capability, and more.”

Dr. Ornstein also calls for Democrats to create a shadow Cabinet, and suggests a shadow HHS Secretary could give a press conference, “flanked by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Sen. Patty Murray, and other key members, outlining the case against Kennedy.”

READ MORE: ‘Crazy’: RFK Jr. Is a Top Global Public Health ‘Expert’ Claims Miller, Sparking Mockery

He also calls for “shadow impeachment hearings, bringing in witnesses that include victims of the assault on our health, from measles patients to those kicked out of key clinical trials to those fired by RFK. And field hearings outside clinics and hospitals—in Republican districts and red states—with physicians, nurses, researchers, and patients testifying.”

The same template could be used by a Shadow Intelligence Director, Shadow CIA Director, a Shadow Secretary of Defense, a Shadow Attorney General, and a Shadow Homeland Security Secretary.

Other experts have called for the U.S. to adopt a U.K.-style system of “shadow government,” including historian Timothy Snyder. In January, Snyder explained that the “shadow ministers ‘shadowed’ the actual ministers,” akin to U.S. Cabinet secretaries, “in the sense of following their every move, criticizing policy and offering alternatives.”

“Importantly, the shadow minister was always available to offer commentary to the press on his or her area of expertise. This greatly enriched public life. At any point a journalist, and thus the public, had access to an alternative point of view, one which was both pertinently expert and politically relevant.”

In February, Dylan Williams, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Center for International Policy, wrote: “If the Trump admin is going to neglect or eliminate entire US Government functions, Democrats should select a shadow cabinet to fill the void. Send an alt SecState to the G20, have an alt CDC Director tell us what’s really going on with Bird Flu and TB, etc.”

READ MORE: ‘Glass Jaws’: Democrats Cast Ernst Exit as Harbinger of Weakening GOP

 

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Trump Urges Judge Aileen Cannon to Keep Jack Smith Report Secret

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President Donald Trump is urging U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block any release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his investigation into the president’s alleged mishandling of hundreds of classified documents, in a case that had been charged in part under the Espionage Act.

On Tuesday, Trump argued in a court filing that Smith’s report should never be made public, in what would be a deviation from previous practice, Politico reported.

The president urged Cannon, whom he nominated to the bench, “to extend her 11-month-old order blocking the Justice Department from releasing the full report, which Smith submitted shortly before Trump’s second inauguration.”

READ MORE: Trump Seen Struggling to Stay Awake Repeatedly in Cabinet Meeting Video

In the court document, Trump’s attorney, Kendra Wharton, wrote that allowing the report to become public would “perpetuate Jack Smith’s unlawful criminal investigations and proceedings.”

Politico noted that the president’s filing “is infused with the typical disdain Trump has expressed for his former prosecutors, labeling Smith a ‘so-called special counsel’ and saying the case was ‘marred by numerous deficiencies and repeated abuses of office.'”

Smith dropped all charges against Trump after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a highly controversial ruling, found that presidents have extensive immunity from prosecution for official acts.

READ MORE: GOP Touts ‘Gulf of America Act’ in Bold New List of Party ‘Accomplishments’

“Trump’s request is a break from the Justice Department’s handling of all special counsel reports in recent decades,” Politico added. “Typically, those reports are provided to Congress and made public, even when they have included damaging findings about the incumbent administration.”

The day after Trump was inaugurated, Judge Cannon denied the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to share Smith’s report on his investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents with Congress. Her order came just hours after Trump signed an executive order to hold former government officials accountable for “unauthorized disclosure” of “sensitive” information, and “for election interference.”

Cannon refused to allow members of Congress to review Smith’s final report. Trump was investigated for alleged unlawful removal, retention, and refusal to return sensitive, classified, and top-secret documents, reportedly including nuclear and defense secrets. The FBI executed a lawful search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and residence to retrieve some of the documents.

READ MORE: ‘No Republicans Willing to Negotiate’: Health Care Subsidy Deal in Doubt

 

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Trump Seen Struggling to Stay Awake Repeatedly in Cabinet Meeting Video

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Once again, President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake, this time during his mid-Tuesday televised Cabinet meeting. At several points, the president was filmed with his eyes closed, occasionally reopening them while seeming disengaged.

In one 30-second clip, the president’s eyes close numerous times, then Trump nods when he is mentioned. In a shorter clip, Trump also struggles to keep his eyes open, as his hand holds up his head.

In a 23-second clip, the president is hunched over, slouching in his chair, his eyes closed in what could be described as appearing to nod off.

Trump slouches and appears to try to listen as HUD Secretary Scott Turner speaks, in this 79-second video.

READ MORE: GOP Touts ‘Gulf of America Act’ in Bold New List of Party ‘Accomplishments’

In a 17-second clip, journalist Aaron Rupar wrote, “Trump’s face is becoming contorted as he desperately tries to cling to consciousness.” In another, he called the president “Dozy Don.”

But in perhaps the most extreme capture of the president appearing to doze off, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks, Trump is totally hunched over, his eyes closed, his head then falls forward, and he appears to try to wake up before seemingly falling back asleep.

While this is not the first time the president has appeared to fall asleep on camera, it comes after a massive late-night social media spree, in which Trump posted or reposted over 150 times, as Alternet reported.

Axios’ Marc Caputo noted that “Trump went on a Truth Social bender last night, posting 158 times from 9pm Monday to 12am Tuesday Just before 5:30 am, he started hitting social media again.”

The media is beginning to notice.

READ MORE: ‘No Republicans Willing to Negotiate’: Health Care Subsidy Deal in Doubt

Last week, The New York Times published an in-depth look at Trump’s “signs of fatigue.”

“Mr. Trump appeared to doze off during an event in the Oval Office,” one week after Halloween, the Times noted.

The president “has fewer public events on his schedule and is traveling domestically much less than he did by this point during his first year in office, in 2017, although he is taking more foreign trips,” according to the Times. “He also keeps a shorter public schedule than he used to. Most of his public appearances fall between noon and 5 p.m., on average.”

“During an Oval Office event that began around noon on Nov. 6,” the Times added, “Mr. Trump sat behind his desk for about 20 minutes as executives standing around him talked about weight-loss drugs.”

“At one point, Mr. Trump’s eyelids drooped until his eyes were almost closed, and he appeared to doze on and off for several seconds. At another point, he opened his eyes and looked toward a line of journalists watching him. He stood up only after a guest who was standing near him fainted and collapsed.”

READ MORE: Student’s Bible-Based Essay Grade Leads University to Put Instructor on Leave

 

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GOP Touts ‘Gulf of America Act’ in Bold New List of Party ‘Accomplishments’

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Speaker Mike Johnson in a House Republican leadership press conference on Tuesday told reporters, “Republicans are not just going to hold onto the majority,” in 2026. “We’re going to grow it.”

Earlier, during their conference meeting, Johnson “told House Republicans that he expects the GOP to defy history in 2026 — win more seats/not lose majority — due to their performance this year,” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reported. “The party in power usually loses seats in a midterm.”

At the press conference, as reported by The Hill’s Emily Brooks, Republicans displayed three large posters detailing “House GOP Accomplishments.” The three posters list less than three dozen successes. Many of them are not related to what President Donald Trump ran on — mainly, reducing the cost of living for Americans.

READ MORE: ‘No Republicans Willing to Negotiate’: Health Care Subsidy Deal in Doubt

Among the thirty-plus accomplishments is the passage of the “Gulf of America Act,” which directs federal agencies to observe President Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.

The posters also brag that they defunded USAID, NPR, and PBS.

Reports, including from The New Yorker, charge that defunding USAID has or will lead to the death of hundreds of thousands, including children:

“As of November 5th, it estimated that U.S.A.I.D.’s dismantling has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.”

In July, the UCLA Newsroom reported that “USAID cuts may lead to more than 14 million deaths globally, including 4.5 million children under 5 by 2030, researchers say.”

READ MORE: Student’s Bible-Based Essay Grade Leads University to Put Instructor on Leave

The House GOP’s posters also brag that they passed President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which is responsible for gutting about $1 trillion from Medicaid. It also effectively forces cuts of hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare, and takes a large chunk out of SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The posters also claim the GOP passed 331 bills, codified 67 executive orders, and accomplished the “Total Defeat of Government Shutdown.”

Bloomberg News’ Erik Wasson added that “One of the accomplishments is passing 3 out of 12 annual spending bills that were due Oct. 1.”

READ MORE: Fox Host Urges Defense of America’s ‘Christian Culture’ Against Communism

 

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