Bill Hagerty Sen 12%

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pow

12* %

https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/bill-hagerty

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'Attack on democracy': GOP senator slammed after invoking racist 'Three-fifths Compromise' - Alternet.org

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Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has been making unprecedented moves to slash federal spending with the blessing of President Donald Trump. As the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (which is not yet an official federal agency authorized by Congress), Musk is exploring major cuts to the Department of Education and plans to shut down USAID — the agency responsible for foreign aid. His team has also been granted access to the Treasury Department’s payments system. But unlike much of the country, some Senate Republicans couldn’t be bothered, NOTUS reported on Tuesday.

One major source of distress among experts is that Musk is rejecting appropriations laws passed by Congress -- in other words, taking authority over funding. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said these actions are indeed unconstitutional, but he is not concerned, saying: “Nobody should bellyache about that."

“That runs afoul of the Constitution in the strictest sense,” Tillis said. But “it’s not uncommon for presidents to flex a little bit on where they can spend and where they can stop spending.”

Other Republicans are glad that Musk is looking at cutting costs.

“He’s doing exactly what he should be doing,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Monday. “He’s going through every agency and looking at how to make sure the money’s spent right.” And while Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives that job to Congress, Scott argued: “It doesn’t look like Congress is doing their job."

“The actions that have been taken with USAID are long overdue,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) said. “The agency is out of control.”

Unlike Tillis, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Musk has not violated the Constitution.

“Mr. Musk is acting under the authority of the president of the United States,” he said. “It’s perfectly legal, perfectly constitutional. And the issue, anyway, is not process. The issue is substance. Did they find wasteful spending, or not?”

Still, some Republicans are concerned. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said she was “very concerned about Mr. Musk or any of his assistants going into federal agencies and demanding personal information on employees.” She said that his actions have not met “the requirements of the law.” BUT THEN VOTED FOR PAM BONDI?

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) joined Republicans in defending Musk. “He’s working with the president, and they’re making recommendations in some cases on agencies,” he told NOTUS. “But the whole program here is that we’re spending way more money than what we’re bringing in.”

He added: “The president has the authority to operate the executive branch of government. So.”

Click here to read NOTUS' report in full.

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in 1979 under Democratic President Jimmy Carter, and Republican President George W. Bush recognized the agency's importance when FEMA was placed under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a recurring theme of the Bush Administration was that disasters were a national security matter.

But President Donald Trump, now two weeks into his nonconsecutive second term, is expressing his hostility to FEMA — a hostility that, according to Politico's Zack Colman, GOP lawmakers aren't necessarily on board with.

Trump is toying with the idea of abolishing FEMA, saying he may "recommend that FEMA go away" and adding, "I'd like to see the states take care of disasters."

"President Donald Trump's suggestions that he might shut down the federal agency charged with responding to disasters are running into trouble with Republican lawmakers," Colman reports in an article published on February 2. "Deeply red states are experiencing some of the costliest disasters, and lawmakers from those states fear that eliminating Federal Emergency Management Agency would leave them on the hook for increasingly expensive bills."

GOP lawmakers interviewed by Politico, according to Colman, drew a distinction between making changes to FEMA and abolishing it altogether after 46 years.

"While they're open to overhauling FEMA," the Politico reporter explains, "congressional Republicans said they flatly reject the idea of abolishing the agency."

Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) recently told reporters, "FEMA can't go away. I think the first job of the federal government is to protect people and property."

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), according to Colman, is calling for FEMA to be "reorganized" but not abolished. And Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee) wants to "overhaul" the agency but acknowledged that FEMA officials worked "very hard" during Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in 2024.

A.R. Siders, a faculty member of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware, told Politico, "We've seen this pattern show up in the past where a Republican senator or congressman will say, 'You know, this is too much disaster aid. We should cut back on disaster aid.' Then, a disaster happens in their state — and then suddenly, they're very pro-disaster aid. This kind of rhetoric is easy to say and hard to stick to."

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Last night’s hearing, however, suggested one more layer.

A cover-up of the congressional coup.

By the Congress.

Hinting hard

The goal appears to have been getting enough members of the US Congress to vote to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The GOP had a Senate majority at the time. They could have, in theory, overruled the will of the people, at least temporarily. Ultimately, however, just 147 Republicans, including eight senators, objected.

I don’t know, had they amassed enough votes in the Senate, where things would have gone after that. Perhaps it would have triggered the 12th Amendment. Perhaps it would have thrown the process back to red states that Joe Biden had won, where friendly Republican legislators would have fixed things so Trump could stay in office.

In any case, the former president spent a lot of time talking about congressional Republicans and talking directly to congressional Republicans to such a degree as to suggest there was another layer of his grand seditious conspiracy that’s only now coming into light. That’s certainly what the J6 committee has been hinting hard at.

Co-conspirators?

Last week, the panel’s Stephanie Murphy saidTrump met in late December with US Reps. Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Brian Babin, Jody Hice, Louie Gohmert, Andy Harris, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Scott Perry and Jim Jordan. Margaret Taylor Greenewas there. So were Mike Pence, Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani. (Seven of these members asked for pardons. Ditto Meadows, Giuliani and Greene.)

They tried getting the former vice president to go along with the conspiracy. It called for him to reject the count all by himself or send it back to the states where state GOP legislators were waiting.

Pence had refused before. I’m guessing those at the meeting expected him to again. He did. The next step was finalizing a scheme to bring tens of thousands of Trump loyalists to the capital, including armed paramilitaries (eg, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers), in order to terrify not only Pence but GOP senators into reinstalling Trump.

Terrifying GOP senators

According to the J6 committee’s Elaine Luria, Trump was told 15 minutes after returning to the White House after his speech on the Ellipse that the US Capitol was under siege by an armed mob. After the briefing, Luria said, Trump began calling GOP senators for the purpose of persuading them to overrule the results of the election.

On the one hand, the former president had insurgents sacking and looting the seat of government, threatening lawmakers with death – in Mike Pence’s case, with hanging from a makeshift gallows. (It was revealed last night that Pence’s Secret Service detail believed they were going to die. They sent messages of love to their families.) On the other, Trump pushed GOP senators by phone to get on board.

During that time, White House staffers tried and failed to persuade Trump to respond to the assault. (He did not issue orders to anyone, not the secretary of defense, the secretary of homeland security, the attorney general, no one.) Instead of telling them to go home, as staffers had hoped, he posted a tweet accusing Pence of betrayal.

After “pouring gasoline on the fire,” as witness Sarah Matthews said, the former president made more phone calls to Republican senators. Later that evening, after Trump had called for the insurgents to go home, Rudy Giuliani made even more calls to Republican senators.

Indeed, the J6 committee’s Adam Kinzinger named them. They were: Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, Bill Hagerty, Tommy Tuberville and Lindsey Graham. Of that number,only three voted to overturn the results of the election: Cruz, Tuberville and Hawley.

The cover-up

Giuliani also called US Rep. Jim Jordan.

Jordan, as I wrote last week, was nominated to serve on the initial select committee to investigate J6. Speaker Nancy Pelosi vetoed his nomination, though. Good thing she did. The current committee would have been compromised by the presence of a congressman who was a serial witness to the serial crimes under investigation.

Jordan was nominated by Kevin McCarthy. As the J6 committee reminded us last night, the House minority leader talked to Trump after the attack. He said Trump said he had “some responsibility” for J6. McCarthy said he told Trump that the House Democrats were likely to pass an impeachment resolution and that he should resign.

Trump didn’t resign, of course.

Perhaps the fix was in.

Implication by omission

Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the J6 committee, reminded us that the committee’s work goes on. Hearings will resume in September, she said. Then the Wyoming congresswoman used some curious math:

Today, we know far more about the president’s plans and actions to overturn the election than almost all members of Congress did when President Trump was impeached on January 13, 2021, or when he was tried by the Senate in February of that year.

Fifty-seven of 100 senators voted to convict President Trump at that time, and more than 20 others said they were voting against conviction, because the president's term had already expired.

Cheney said “almost all,” I think, because a dozen GOP members had been deeply involved in or material witnesses to Trump’s conspiracy.

She said “57 of 100,” I think, because it takes 67 senators to remove and convict a president. She said “more than 20 others,” because she’s apparently giving these GOP senators the benefit of the doubt.

But that still leaves around 20 unaccounted for. Why?

Perhaps because some, or all, of these 20 or so Republican senators had been in contact with the former president as the insurrection was unfolding and therefore potential co-conspirators in the crime.

Perhaps because some, or all, of these 20 or so Republican senators voted against conviction, thus taking steps to cover up the crime.

In any case, it was implication by omission.

The appearance of a conspiracy

We know at least six of them were evidently in both camps. On the evening of J6, Rudy Giuliani called Blackburn, Hawley, Cruz, Hagarty, Tuberville and Graham hoping they would object to the vote count. (Three did.) This same group voted to acquit Trump of treason.

If that’s not a rigged outcome, it sure looks like one.

Liz Cheney seemed to be inviting us to put the former president’s second impeachment trial in light of what we know now.

She seemed to be asking us to consider what it means when at least a dozen sitting members of the House were material witnesses as well as grand jury members deciding on an indictment (impeachment).

She seemed to be asking us to see that at least six of those Senators were materially involved in a crime of which they sat in judgment.

If that’s not a conspiracy, it sure as hell looks like one.

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...(The satirical news site *The Onion* deftly handled this, calling out each of the 126 with an individualized message. To Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, "You have been absolutely fearless when stopping the American people from participating in elections;" to Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, "Never again will we allow U.S. citizens to recklessly turn in their ballots;" to Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, "Thank you for bravely standing up to the American voters;" and so on. Each was accompanied by an especially beguiling photo of a maggot.)

Many of those same members and more—some 140—are now lending their names to the smoke-and-mirrors effort in Congress to challenge the votes of the Electoral College, which already has given the election to Joe Biden. The votes of the electors officially are to be announced on Wednesday by Vice President Mike Pence in his capacity as President of the Senate.

In normal times, this would be a mere formality, but Trump and Republicans have decided to turn it into a clumsy attempt at a coup d'etat, ignoring the rule of law and numerous court rulings. They're putting on an act, trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election as a dumbshow of power, all out of fear of Tin Hat Trump's "base" of voters and to preserve a status quo that ignores the diversity of America, cossets the rich and fosters hate, poverty and inequality.

In the House, the leaders of this effort include the feckless Louie Gohmert of Texas, known as "America's craziest and dumbest congressman." Having just had an election lawsuit thrown out by a Federal appeals court on New Year's Day, he went on *Newsmax* suggesting that the alternative now is going to the streets and "being as violent as antifa and BLM."

He's joined in this mad pursuit—simultaneously dumbing down and radicalizing a significant portion of the party and American populace—by the usual suspects, led by Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama and including Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, Jody Hice of Georgia and Joe Wilson of South Carolina. New members of the House are piping up, too, including QAnon queen Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

On the Senate side, opposition to finalizing the presidential result is being led by Josh Hawley of Missouri, a man of vaulting ambition who wants to be president so badly he's is willing to violate his sworn oath of office and destroy the Constitution and Bill of Rights to get there, using conspiracy theories and falsehoods to oil his way into the White House as early as 2024.

In a letter published Saturday, eleven other Republican senators and senators-elect demanded an "emergency 10-day audit" of results in "the disputed states,"—in other words, the states Trump is shocked—shocked!—that he lost to Joe Biden, states he assumed would be a cinch for him. They weren't.

Remember their names:

Ted Cruz (Texas)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Steve Daines (Montana)
John Kennedy (Louisiana)
Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee)
Mike Braun (Indiana)
Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming) (new senator)
Roger Marshall (Kansas) (new senator)
Bill Hagerty (Tennessee) (new senator)
Tommy Tuberville (Alabama) (new senator)

Sadly, this Dirty Dozen (including Hawley), a so-called "Sedition Caucus" in the Senate, probably won't be deterred by news of that phone call Trump made to Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, trying to bully him into finding more votes to change the result in the state from Biden to Trump—a conversation much like the one with Ukraine President Zelensky that a year ago got Donald Trump impeached.

Trump's impeachment didn't lead to conviction by the Senate, thanks to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who would brook no new evidence or witnesses, turning the trial into a sham with a predetermined outcome. But McConnell now is opposed to his colleagues' efforts to subvert the Electoral College. Why? Because McConnell is all about the raw power he alone holds in the Senate. He cares for that and little else except, of course, tax cuts for the superrich, holding rules and regulations at bay and getting as many conservative Federal judges approved by the Senate as quickly as he can.

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William Francis Hagerty IV (born August 14, 1959) is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat serving as the junior United States senator from Tennessee since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 30th U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019.

Hagerty worked as an economic advisor and White House fellow under President George H. W. Bush. He then began a career in private equity. Hagerty is the co-founder of Hagerty Peterson & Company, a private equity investment firm; he is a former managing director of the firm. From 2011 to 2014, Hagerty served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. He led a successful effort to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Nashville.

President Donald Trump nominated Hagerty to serve as U.S. ambassador to Japan on March 27, 2017; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 13, 2017 in an 86–12 vote. Hagerty was sworn in as the 30th United States ambassador to Japan on July 27, 2017; he resigned in July 2019 to run for the U.S. Senate.

Hagerty ran in the 2020 election for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Lamar Alexander. He won the Republican primary and defeated Democratic nominee Marquita Bradshaw in the general election.

Early life and education[

Hagerty is a native of Gallatin, in Sumner County, Tennessee. He became an Eagle Scout, and was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2017.^[1] He is a 1977 graduate of Madisonville North Hopkins High School in Kentucky.^[2] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and business administration in 1981 from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt Law School in 1984.^[3][4]

Career[

Hagerty began his career at Boston Consulting Group, culminating in a three-year assignment to Tokyo.^[3] He was an economic advisor and White House Fellow in the administration of President George H. W. Bush^[5] and then began a career in private equity, initially at Trident Capital in Silicon Valley. Hagerty is the co-founder of Hagerty Peterson & Company, a private equity investment firm; he is a former managing director of the firm.^[6] He served as a national finance chair for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign.^[7]

From 2011 to 2014, Hagerty served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development in the cabinet of Governor Bill Haslam, where he played a role in investments by Bridgestone, Calsonic Kansei (now Magneti Marelli), and Nissan in Tennessee.^[8]

Hagerty has served on the board of CyMed, NEW Customer Services, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ryman Hospitality, Pinnacle Financial Partners, and R.J. O'Brien.^[9]

Nashville MLS Steering Committee:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Before his confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Hagerty founded and led the Nashville MLS Steering Committee, a coalition seeking to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Nashville, Tennessee. The effort was successful, with Nashville being officially selected and named the first of two new MLS expansion markets on December 20, 2017. Nashville SC debuted in the 2020 MLS season.^{[10][11][12][13]}

2016 presidential election[

During the early stages of the 2016 presidential election, Hagerty was nominated to serve on the ballot as a delegate for Jeb Bush. Bush dropped out of the race before the Tennessee primary on March 1, 2016.^[14] After the Tennessee primary, Hagerty served as Trump Victory Chair for Tennessee. After Trump became the Republican nominee, he was selected in August of 2016 as director of appointments for Trump's presidential transition team.^[15][16]

United States Ambassador to Japan[

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:President_Trump_and_First_Lady_Melania_Trump_at_the_U.S._Ambassador%27s_Residence_in_Tokyo_%2847953644093%29.jpg)

Hagerty and family with Donald and Melania Trump in the ambassadorial residence in 2019

Trump nominated Hagerty to be the United States Ambassador to Japan on March 27, 2017.^[17] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 13, 2017, in an 86–12 vote.^[18][19] He was sworn in as the 30th U.S. Ambassador on July 27, 2017.^[20][21]

Before his confirmation, Hagerty was reportedly also under consideration for United States Trade Representative, based on his prior international trade and U.S. foreign investment experience.^[22][23] The job eventually went to Robert Lighthizer, an attorney and former Reagan Administration official.

On July 16, 2019, Hagerty announced that he would resign as Ambassador to Japan to run for the Senate.^[24]

U.S. Senate[

Elections[

2020[

Main article: 2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee

In December 2018, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander announced that he would not run for reelection in 2020.^[25] When asked about possible successors, Alexander named Hagerty and former governor Bill Haslam as the "most obvious" candidates.^[26] On July 11, 2019, Haslam announced that he would not run for the Senate.^[27] The next day, Trump tweeted that Hagerty would resign as ambassador to Japan to run for the open Senate seat. In the same tweet, Trump endorsed Hagerty for Senate.^[28][29][30] Hagerty was mentioned as a potential U.S. secretary of state during the same period.^[31]

Hagerty officially launched his Senate campaign in September 2019.^[32] By the end of the month, he had raised $1.9 million for his campaign.^[33] By April 6, Hagerty had raised more than $7 million, with $1.2 million raised in the first quarter of 2020.^[34] Speakers at Hagerty campaign fundraisers included Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle,^[35] and Nikki Haley.^[36]

Beginning in late May 2020, news outlets began circulating an article, originally published by Roger Sollenberger in *Salon*, discussing allegations of campaign finance misconduct by Hagerty.^[37] The article focused largely on a loan given to the Hagerty Campaign by Pinnacle Financial Partners almost immediately following the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.^[38]

On August 6, 2020, Hagerty won the Republican primary.^[39][40] He defeated Democratic nominee Marquita Bradshaw in the November general election,^[41][42] 1,840,926 votes to 1,040,691.^[43] Hagerty took office on January 3, 2021.^[44][45]

Tenure[

Hagerty initially planned to object to certifying the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count over unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. But after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, he changed his mind and voted to certify the count.^[46][47] On May 28, 2021, Hagerty voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the Capitol attack.^[48]

In August 2021, Hagerty used a procedural maneuver to grind the final vote on the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to a halt, citing the expense and the upcoming $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.^[49] His actions drew the ire of both Democratic and Republican senators, with Democrats accusing Hagerty of doing Trump's bidding and Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Kevin Cramer showing frustration.^[50]

Committees[

Political positions[

Hagerty is a self-described conservative.^[51] His views have been characterized as populist and in line with Trump's political views.^[52]

During his 2020 Senate campaign, Hagerty resigned from the board of futures brokerage R.J. O'Brien & Associates after an opponent claimed the firm was donating money to the Black Lives Matter Foundation,^[53] an organization of which Hagerty is critical. He was also called "entitled" for acquiring a $2.5 million loan to his campaign from Pinnacle Bank (where he had formerly been a director) at a time when small businesses were having difficulty getting federal stimulus loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[54]

Hagerty supports the death penalty for people convicted of engaging in human trafficking acts.^[55] He believes that Sharia Law is a national security threat to the U.S. and that the U.S. should continue to support Israel.^[56][57] Hagerty supports reducing taxes and supports enacting a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.^[56] He opposes raising the federal minimum wage.^[58] Hagerty opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and believes that the federal government should reduce its involvement in health care.^[59] He supports efforts to prevent the closure of rural hospitals.^[58] Hagerty supports increased investment and development of fossil fuels, and supports repealing renewable energy and energy efficiency standards.^[59] He also supports American energy independence.^[59]

Personal life[

Hagerty is married to Chrissy Hagerty, and has four children.^[56] He identifies as a conservative Christian.^[58]

Electoral history

...