John Kubal is a writer at the Brookings Register and a 35–year Navy veteran.

The “greatest political movement of all time … an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”

Not! Even though Donald J. Trump won the electoral-college vote convincingly, his 312 to Kamala Harris’s 226, and the popular vote with what could be called razor-thin 49.9 percent to 48.4 — but not a majority. Those pesky also-rans, Robert Kennedy Jr., an independent, and Jill Stein of the Green Party, each polled 0.5 percent of the popular vote. (Kennedy didn’t want his name on the ballot but a technicality prohibited its removal.)

Considering the above, Trump has nevertheless unashamedly pronounced a mandate by the American people for him to govern. Now I obviously can’t get inside Trump’s head — nor can anyone else if they’re honest about it. I’m not sure Trump always knows what’s going on in his head.

However, I do believe that behind anything and everything the president-elect does there is one word that drives him: LOYALTY. Has he extrapolated his victory with the belief that he now has the loyalty of all the American electorate and that translates to their tacit approval — no questions asked  — of all that he does as president and ergo the loyalty of the lawmakers of the American voters who put them in office? There should be no questioning of his choices for the many positions cited in Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. No need for background checks, give them all high-level security clearances. The Senate’s advice and consent role should be a mere formality with a rubber stamp of approval tied to loyalty.

A key role in the confirmation process is played by the Senate majority leader. Trump’s choice of the three contenders for the post was Sen. Rick Scott (Florida); his backup pick was Sen. John Cornyn (Texas); then came Sen. John Thune (South Dakota). In a horse-race win, place and show finish, it was Thune, Cornyn and Scott. Cornyn and Scott are loyalist and amenable to using a recess of the Senate to allow Trump carte blanche appointment of his nominations. Thune took a keep-it-on-the table approach that might be needed if the Democrats tried to stall Trump’s appointments.

If the confirmation process for some of Trump’s choices turns out to be not so pretty — a bit like making sausage — that’s fine. I have in mind Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense and Kash Patel for FBI director. One Trump selectee avoided the confirmation process: In the face of ethics issues Matt Gaetz, nominated to be attorney general, avoided that by withdrawing his nomination in a move akin to a snake-oil salesman slipping out of town before the guys with the tar and feathers laid hands on him.

I know the president-elect would like to see his choices to fill posts moving quickly through the confirmation process, rubber-stamped as much as possible. He’d also be happy if the Senate went into recess and gave him a free hand. Good work if you can get it. However, I couldn’t find anything in Article II, Section 2, that says the “advice and consent” duties of the Senate have to be speedy. After what I’ve read about Hegseth and Patel, I’d have no problem with some tough questions and grilling of these two guys.

I appreciate Thune’s stance voiced in an interview with Harris Faulkner of Fox News this past week in which Trump’s nominees were discussed: “I think the important thing here is President Trump needs his team in place to be able to implement his agenda. These are the people that he selected. I give wide latitude and wide deference to the president when he makes these selections. We have a job to do, advise and consent, and we will do it and make sure that there’s a process to all these nominees.”

From what I can see, Thune as Senate majority leader-in-waiting is playing his cards close to the vest, especially in the cases of Hegseth and Patel.

He sees the former as having the background to be secdef: “He’s a combat veteran, he’s obviously somebody who understands what it takes to fight battles on the ground, and I think that’s a perspective that is very impressive to a lot of the members that he’s had the opportunity to meet with so far and to be questioned by.”

Commendable, yes. Qualified, no. As a platoon leader, Hegseth was likely leading 20 to 50 troops. A platoon is the smallest unit to be led by a commissioned officer. Trump’s first secdef during his first time in office was Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who led troops in combat at the battalion, regiment and division level. Biden’s choice for secdef was Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who led troops at the division, corps and field army level. And neither of these four-stars had moral and ethical issues, which Hegseth is grappling with.

And Patel? Thune noted that a man, whom many see as Trump’s bully-boy, is “making the rounds and having his meetings on Capitol Hill with the senators who are really relevant to his nomination process and I think doing a nice job again of explaining his vision for the future of the FBI.”

Will either or both of Trump’s choices be confirmed? If they are, may it be after a tough grilling by both Dems and the GOP and a healthy serving of sausage — and courage. 

As an aside, let’s have a well-earned BRAVO ZULU for both Secretary Lloyd Austin and Sen. Mitt Romney, two selfless public servants leaving office with the changing of the guard, two patriots who put country first — always.

Have a nice day.