The President-elect has begun to name the people he wants for his cabinet. Several of these candidates have raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle! Many Republicans have gone on record with their concerns. Other Senators have insisted that the President deserves to have the Cabinet he wants. What these yes-men seem to have forgotten is that it is expected that the President-elect will vet these candidates to ensure they are the best qualified for the job. We citizens expect that, and that the Senate will do their job of Advise and Consent,

Instead, it appears, only two criteria were considered in the vetting. They must be loyal….not to the Constitution that they must swear an oath to, but to the man nominating them! They must be disruptors, willing to sow chaos as they blindly follow the orders of that same man, ignoring the ramifications of chaos in an already chaotic world as they give up their responsibility to advise and improve their departments….solve problems, don’t exacerbate them.

Finally, with a complete disregard to the separation of powers the Constitution put in place, the president-elect is floating the idea that Congress should take a recess so his most controversial nominations can just slide in! There are strict guidelines in the Constitution for the very rare need to make an emergency recess appointment. The scariest thing about this idea for the future of our fragile democracy is that it brings us another giant step closer to President as Dictator. If the Senate is willing to cede its responsibility and authority to the President, what purpose do they serve?

I beg the members of the Senate to seriously consider the consequences of their actions – Time and History will judge them – and neither one judges kindly.

NANCY McCARTY

Old Lycoming Township

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom