Category: Jd vance
Erika Kirk Makes 2028 Presidential Endorsement During AmFest Speech
‘ensure that President Trump has Congress’
The ‘blue-slip block’ is GOP cowardice masquerading as tradition
President Trump and Vice President Vance have every right — and every reason — to call out Republican senators who hide behind the so-called blue-slip tradition to block nominees for key executive positions, especially U.S. attorneys.
The effect is simple and damaging: Trump is denied the full exercise of his constitutional authority over the executive branch. Without aligned U.S. attorneys across the country’s 94 districts, the administration’s de-weaponization agenda stalls. In some cases, it collapses outright. So far, the Senate has advanced just 18 of the 50 U.S. attorneys nominated by the administration.
That is the real function of the blue slip. It is not institutionalism. It is careerism. It lets senators hide.
The blue slip is a Senate custom requiring the consent of both home-state senators before certain nominees — U.S. attorneys, judges, U.S. marshals — can advance to committee. In practice, it operates as a hack of the Constitution. The Senate’s role is advice and consent by the full body. The blue slip transfers that power to two senators, and often to just one, who can halt the process without explanation or accountability.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has insisted that the Republican Senate will not reconsider the practice despite the abysmal pace of confirmations. “There are many Republican senators — way more Republican senators who are interested in preserving that than those who aren’t,” he said. What he has not explained is why.
The answer is avoidance. The blue slip spares Republican senators from taking difficult votes. The fewer Trump-aligned U.S. attorneys brought to the floor, the fewer public positions senators must take. The blue slip allows them to kill nominations quietly rather than oppose them openly.
Despite years of rhetoric about party realignment, the Senate remains dominated by politicians hostile to Trump’s agenda. Some were forced out. Many more learned to mimic an America First accent without embracing America First policy. They do just enough to deter primary challengers while staying safely aligned with donors, lobbyists, and institutional power.
Forcing senators to vote up or down on Trump-aligned prosecutors like Alina Habba in New Jersey or Julianne Murray in Delaware — both of whom were serving as acting U.S. attorneys until the Senate ran out the clock — would expose those evasions. So the Senate stalled them instead.
I watched this play out firsthand during the failed confirmation of Ed Martin, Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. Because D.C. is not a state, the blue slip did not apply. Senate leadership attempted a different maneuver: delay until time expired.
When the base demanded a vote, Senator Thom Tillis (RINO-N.C.) stepped in and tanked Martin’s nomination outright. As a judiciary committee member, Tillis effectively wielded a one-man veto by shifting the committee balance back toward Democrats.
That decision carried consequences. Shortly afterward, Tillis opposed advancing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in its existing form. Trump threatened a primary. Tillis burned through his remaining political capital and soon announced that he would not seek re-election.
Had Tillis been able to blue-slip Martin, he might have avoided that outcome.
RELATED: Accountability or bust: Trump’s second term test
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
That is the real function of the blue slip. It is not institutionalism. It is careerism. Cloaked in collegial language, it operates as a mutual defense pact among Republican senators to shield one another from accountability. It lets senators hide. A six-year Senate term has become a financial asset in a hyper-funded political system. Assets avoid risk. Votes create risk. Fewer votes mean greater protection.
Defenders of the blue slip claim it preserves the Senate’s unique institutional character. That argument belongs to another century. Today’s Senate is neither deliberative nor restrained. It lurches between performative hearings and massive spending bills, punctuated by social media sound bites. Any appeal to Jeffersonian dignity at this point borders on parody.
Notably, the blue slip never restrains Democrats. When Democrats want nominees confirmed, process does not stand in the way. For Republicans, the blue slip amounts to unilateral disarmament dressed up as principle.
Trump and Vance should keep attacking this practice publicly. The only antidote to procedural cowardice is exposure. Voters who support a mandate deserve to see whether their senators will carry it out — or hide behind tradition while returning to business as usual in Washington.
Even if Republican senators ultimately vote against these nominees, at least the votes would happen in the open. Accountability begins there.
JD Vance Turns Tables On Reporter Asking About Susie Wiles’ Alleged Accusation That He’s A ‘Conspiracy Theorist’
‘I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true’
Poll provides clear idea of who’s poised to sweep 2028 Republican presidential primary
Those keen to wrest control of the GOP from MAGA conservatives and to resume the course charted by the party prior to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election have their work cut out for them.
A new poll conducted by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics revealed that Vice President JD Vance presently towers over his potential 2028 GOP primary opponents — including Calgary-born Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is poised to run as the kind of George W. Bush-era Republican that Trump crushed in the 2016 and 2024 primaries.
‘Voters will sniff out anybody who has seemed to be sort of focused on themselves.’
When asked whom they would vote for if the election were held this month, 57% of respondents said that they would support Vance; 9% said Secretary of State Marco Rubio; 7% said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; 4% said Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy; 4% said former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nimarata “Nikki” Haley; 4% said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; 1% said Ted Cruz; and 1% said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Two percent of respondents signaled they would vote for someone else, and 10% said they were unsure.
Sources close to the Trump administration recently told Politico that Rubio has telegraphed that he would support Vance if he chooses to run.
One source close to the White House noted that the “expectation is JD as [nominee] and Rubio as VP.”
RELATED: The early social media reviews of Cruz’s 2028 POTUS trial balloon are in
DeSantis, who secured less than 2% of the votes cast in the 2024 Republican primary before dropping out, recently told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “I’m not thinking about anything because I think we have a president now who’s not even been in for a year. We’ve got a lot that we’ve got to accomplish.”
The Florida governor may have taken the advice that James Blair, a former DeSantis staffer who now serves as Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff, recently shared via Politico: “If you’re a Republican that wants to run in 2028 right now, you need to focus on keeping Republicans in power for 2026. I think the number one thing everybody can do is focus on the team and helping their team and not focus on themselves.”
“Voters will sniff out anybody who has seemed to be sort of focused on themselves,” added Blair.
Last month, the University of New Hampshire’s Granite State Poll found that while DeSantis didn’t place in the top five Republican presidential primary candidates for 2028, he managed the fourth-highest favorability rating.
Vance placed first with a favorability rating among likely Republican primary voters of 77%; Rubio placed second with a 58% rating; Gabbard placed third with a 57% rating; DeSantis came fourth with a 56% rating; and Ramaswamy came fifth with 46%.
Cruz and Haley, meanwhile, were much further down the list with favorability ratings of 38% and 25%, respectively.
Gabbard, polling ahead of Cruz in the Saint Anselm College poll, has not made explicit any intention to run but indicated earlier this year on “The Megyn Kelly Show” that she “will never rule out any opportunity” to serve her country.
On the prediction website Polymarket, Vance is given a 55% chance of winning the primary.
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The early social media reviews of Cruz’s 2028 POTUS trial balloon are in
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) dropped out of the 2016 presidential race after his crushing defeat in the Indiana Republican primary by then-candidate Donald Trump. It seems that Cruz did not, however, drop his aspirations of one day taking the White House.
Cruz kept his powder dry during the 2020 presidential election and, in 2024, successfully ran for a third term in the U.S. Senate. Now, the 54-year-old Calgary-born senator appears to be preparing for a 2028 presidential bid.
Unfortunately for Cruz, MAGA influencers do not appear too impressed by his recent attacks on Tucker Carlson, which some regard as proxy attacks on Vice President JD Vance, who is far and away the 2028 Republican front-runner, by even Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s admission.
‘Cruz is gonna have a tough time.’
On Monday, Axios highlighted a number of signs that Cruz is indeed “laying the groundwork” for a 2028 bid, such as hitting the speaker circuit, endorsing midterm candidates, and securing a date to host a big donor retreat next year.
The liberal publication suggested further that it’s clear from his recent salvo against Tucker Carlson that Cruz is simultaneously courting powerful pro-Israel donors, some of whom aligned themselves with Nikki Haley in her humiliating 2024 GOP primary run against Trump; “staking out turf as a traditional, pro-interventionist Republican”; and setting the stage for a battle with Vance, who is not only a Carlson ally but unmistakably at odds with the tack taken by the George W. Bush-era GOP.
RELATED: Vance, Banks come out swinging against reporter attacking Tucker Carlson’s son
Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images
Axios stated that “by poking at Carlson’s isolationist foreign policy views, accusing him of anti-Semitism and more, Cruz is putting himself on a collision course with Vice President Vance.”
Vance, like Carlson, has criticized the protraction of the war in Ukraine; cautioned against new regime-change wars; emphasized that the U.S. is “not at war with Iran”; and noted that American and Israeli foreign policy are not always aligned.
Cruz has indicated that similar foreign policy views expressed by Carlson are “bat-crap crazy” and “off the rails.”
Cruz, who is reportedly set this week to address the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly, has also blasted Carlson for his October interview with Nick Fuentes, whom he labeled a “little goose-stepping Nazi,” suggesting that Carlson was wrong and “complicit in evil,” not for platforming Fuentes but for failing to adequately cross-examine him.
“We have a responsibility to speak out even when it’s uncomfortable,” Cruz said in a statement to Axios. “When voices in our own movement push dangerous and misguided ideas, we can’t look the other way. I won’t hesitate to call out those who peddle destructive, vile rhetoric and threaten our principles and our future. Silence in the face of recklessness is not an option.”
While Vance — whom Fuentes routinely attacks for having a wife of Indian descent — has made expressly clear that he thinks Fuentes is a “total loser” who does not belong in the MAGA movement, others have attempted in recent days to smear Carlson and Vance with a single stroke.
Cruz’s office did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
A number of MAGA influencers criticized Cruz on Monday over the poor timing of the Axios piece and/or his apparent punches in Vance’s direction.
Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec highlighted that Cruz’s latest dig at Carlson came just hours after President Donald Trump signaled continued support for Carlson, claiming reporters “can’t tell him who to interview” and that “ultimately, people have to decide.”
Political strategist and commentator Alex Lorusso wrote, “Right after President Trump says you can’t tell Tucker Carlson who to interview, Ted Cruz says we have a ‘responsibility’ to speak out against him. He has a rude awakening coming if he wants to run for president in 2028 by positioning himself against DJT.”
Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck wrote, “Breaking: Ted Cruz will lose the 2028 primary. He has absolutely no chance against JD Vance.”
“It’s all about principle you see,” tweeted BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre, “and that principle is power.”
The popular X user Swig noted, “Ted Cruz’s bizarre attacks on Tucker Carlson are simply a proxy attack on JD Vance. Extremely transparent game he is engaging in.”
“Judging by top MAGA influencers, Cruz is gonna have a tough time,” concluded Axios’ Marc Caputo.
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‘You know what really p**ses people off?’ Vance identifies what’s at heart of ‘populist resentment’ in Appalachia
Vice President JD Vance joined Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Make America Healthy Again summit on Wednesday in discussing the Trump administration’s revolution against the unworkable state of affairs and orthodoxies that have left so many Americans sick, censored, poor, and behind.
After the duo discussed President Donald Trump’s penchant for taking “a bulldozer to Overton windows,” Kennedy raised the matter of the dire health and social conditions in Appalachia, noting that Vance’s incredible success serves as a “tragic reminder of the lost potential of almost everybody else in Appalachia.”
‘Their loved ones are dying much sooner than everybody else.’
“It’s got the worst health data of any region in the country — the highest cardiac disease, the highest obesity, the highest diabetes, the highest stroke rates — but also addiction, alcoholism, and suicide,” said Kennedy.
Although dubbed a “golden child of Appalachia” by the HHS secretary, Vance emphasized his firsthand familiarity with the bleak conditions experienced by so many in the region, noting that he was hard-pressed to identify a single important male family figure who lived past the age of 70.
“You want to talk about, like, ‘populism’? And you want to talk about people being pissed off? Well, yeah, people are pissed off when they don’t have good jobs; and people are pissed off when things disappear and move overseas; and people are pissed off when they feel like, you know, other countries are being prioritized over the United States of America,” said Vance. “All of that is part of the populist resentment of the past 20 or 30 years in American politics.”
RELATED: Vance identifies the perfect mascot for the Democrats — then outlines what America actually needs
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
“But you know what really pisses people off?” continued the vice president. “When they realize that their loved ones are dying much sooner than everybody else.”
Life expectancy has long been lower and infant mortality higher in Appalachia than in the rest of the country.
Vance noted that while on the one hand, he feels guilty that so many of his fellow Appalachians have not enjoyed the opportunities for economic and familial stability that he has enjoyed, he also feels “a great sense of anger because we never should have gotten to the point that we are today, and the reason that we have is because of failed leadership — and it’s failed leadership over generations.”
The vice president stressed that one of the reasons he strongly supports Kennedy’s health initiatives is because therein lies a major opportunity to do right by Appalachian residents who have been “left behind by this country’s leadership.”
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WATCH NOW: President Trump and Vice President JD Vance Deliver Veterans Day Remarks
On Tuesday morning, President Trump will visit Arlington National Cemetery, where he will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and deliver remarks paying tribute to America’s veterans.
