The Republicans own the Senate and the Republicans own who gets approved or rejected for Trump’s cabinet, screw ups and all.

The Republicans own the cabinet. Period. Full stop. EOM.

Of course. That's the point.

Democrats can't control who gets approved or rejected. The most they can do is influence their Republican colleagues by ratcheting up the pressure and political heat on any given nominee. But that can be somewhat effective, particularly since two of the four votes they would need to defeat a nominee (Collins and Murkowski) have been quite willing to vote against Trump picks in the past - and almost certainly gave the signal that they were a hard "no" on Gaetz.

There are probably more than a few Senators that don't want to confirm RJK, Jr. for exactly the reasons I gave in the top of the thread - he's a pro-choice former Democrat. He's also got some....unorthodox views on things that affect modern agriculture, like pesticide use and GMO's.

If Democrats really turn up the temperature on RFK, Jr., those squishy supporters might break against him and try to get a nominee that lines up more with where they are on those issues. But if he's not the main focus of Democratic opposition? I don't know - it gets harder to turn down the President on anything other than a flashpoint pick.

The GOP will own every pick in the cabinet. The question is whether Democrats try to get them to own a different pick in the HHS slot.